The Trump administration on Wednesday published sweeping new rules for detaining minors who cross the U.S.-Mexico border, seeking to sidestep or terminate the Flores Settlement agreement that has determined how the U.S. treated migrant children since 1997. The proposed regulation would allow the government to detain migrant children indefinitely — while the Flores agreement mandates no more than 20 days — revise the minimum standards of care children are afforded, and end some of all of the other protections set out in the Flores agreement. Administration officials told The New York Times that the new rules will maintain the underlying purpose of the Flores settlement, but migrant advocates disagree. The rules, which must be approved by a federal judge, will likely be challenged in court.

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