Attorneys say Biden administrations new safety standards for migrant children in custody not enough [Video]

LOS ANGELES – Attorneys for migrant children who arrived to the United States on their own say the Biden administration’s new rules are not enough to ensure their safety while they are in U.S. custody and should not replace a decades-old agreement from a court settlement that requires court oversight.

Government attorneys at a federal court hearing in Los Angeles on Friday argued that the court oversight under the Flores agreement has outlived its purpose and new regulations are needed. Its attorneys said they would provide more details to the judge next Monday before she makes her ruling, including information on how they will ensure oversight of non-government facilities caring for children with acute needs.

The Biden administration last month asked the court to partially lift the rules, weeks after the U.S. Health and Human Services Department published its own safeguards, effective July 1, that Secretary Xavier Becerra said will set “clear standards for …