A federal judge recently refused to halt an immigrant class action lawsuit, ruling that the government shutdown does not eclipse the “safety of human life.”

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras denied a request by the federal government to temporarily halt a class action lawsuit concerning teen immigrant detention.

With the recent government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Justice asked Judge Contreras to stay the proceedings until funds are allocated to the department.

However, Judge Contreras denied this request due to the sensitive nature of the allegations, telling the justice department to continue with the court’s schedule “regardless of the shutdown.”

The judge cited a federal law that prohibits government employees from working voluntarily during a government shutdown “except for emergencies involving safety of human life or the protection of property.”







Judge Contreras also cited a 1981 ruling from the U.S. attorney general. The document states that government function is required to continue during a shutdown in situations where there exists “some reasonable likelihood that the safety of human life or the protection of property would be compromised, in some degree, by delay in the performance of the function in question.”

“This is just such a case,” Judge Contreras wrote. “In seeking several delays to date, the government has at times seemed to forget what this case is about: the allegedly unnecessary and illegal detention of young adults in restrictive detention facilities.”

The court also noted that the government has kept 48 percent of Executive Office for Immigration review employees, 91 percent of U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees, and 81 percent of ICE employees working during the shutdown that was prompted by disagreements over funding for border control efforts.

“If the government can allocate resources during the shutdown to staff the facilities in which plaintiffs are detained (again, allegedly unnecessarily and illegally), it can allocate resources to staff the defense of plaintiffs’ action,” Judge Contreras stated.

Plaintiffs in the ICE class action lawsuit allege that the government agency improperly transfers detained teenagers into adult facilities without considering other placements which may be less restrictive.







According to the plaintiffs, these actions are a violation of child trafficking laws including the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2013.

In August, the Class of migrant teenagers secured another win when Judge Contreras certified the Class.

Under the certification, Class Members include “[a]ll former unaccompanied alien children who are detained or will be detained by ICE after being transferred by ORR because they have turned 18 years of age and as to whom ICE did not consider placement in the least restrictive setting available, including alternatives to detention programs.”

Plaintiffs and the Class are represented by Tia T. Trout Perez, Devin A. DeBacker, Ross Powell, Stephen R. Patton, Amanda A. Jacobowski and Jamie R. Netznik of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Katherine Melloy Goettel of the National Immigrant Justice Center.

The Immigrant Teens Class Action Lawsuit is Garcia Ramirez, et al. v. ICE, et al., Case No. 1:18-­cv-­00508, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.







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