Judge blocks Trump from closing loophole that exploits children

On August 15, 2025, Judge Dolly Gee blocked the Trump administration from closing a loophole that turns children into passports.

The Flores Loophole

A court decision dating back to 1997 requires the government to release unaccompanied children “without unnecessary delay”. Smugglers exploit the loophole – known as the “Flores Settlement Agreement” – to get unauthorized minors into the United States, often to join relatives who are already here illegally.

Exploiting Children

In 2015, Judge Gee – Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California – expanded the loophole herself to also apply to accompanied minors. Her ruling provided the cartels and human smuggling organizations with a new marketing plan: bring a child; get released.

That’s how children became passports.

“This is the reason I brought a minor with me,” one migrant seeking illegal employment told the New York Times. “She was my passport.”

Smugglers and cartels will give a discount to migrant groups who have a minor with them. In some cases, they will even rent children to help customers avoid family detention.

Separate Families or Release Everyone?

The Flores loophole puts the U.S. government in a tough spot. If a group of migrants arrive as a “family unit” with a minor in tow, the government must choose between its responsibility to detain migrants while their claims are adjudicated and its obligation to release children after 20 days. Agencies could release the children while detaining the adults, but most of the time the entire group is released in order to avoid separating families.

Millions of migrants put their lives and their treasure into the hands of smugglers and cartels to take advantage of this loophole.

One Judge to Rule Them All

The Obama and Trump Administrations tried to close the Flores loophole, but Judge Gee blocked them. The Flores Settlement is clearly an attempt by one judge to institute policy and bind the executive branch to its demands.

Congress must finally act to override this activist judge’s ruling, and institute a policy to keep families in place even when detained. H.R. 2 – passed by the House in the last Congress (but not yet introduced in this one) would:

• Remove the legal presumption that accompanied minors apprehended at the border cannot be detained; and
• Require that accompanied minors only be released to parents or legal guardians who are lawfully present in the United States.

The Human Cost

500,000 unaccompanied children entered under President Biden’s watch, and it will take years to return them to their homes. Most of them have become child laborers working in dangerous and illegal situations.

The Biden Administration placed 11,000 unaccompanied children with unvetted sponsors; and failed to conduct home studies for 80,000 children under 12 years of age. A government hotline for unaccompanied minors left 65,000 calls unanswered.

Congress has a role to play here beyond mere oversight. We must permanently close loopholes like Flores to avoid such humanitarian disasters in the future. Pass a bill.