This image shows a little boy from Guatemala and his family, who are detained by United States Border Patrol agents for seeking refuge in the United States, June 27, 2018, Mission, TX.

A US court has ordered the release of more than 100 children held in detention in federal immigration detention centers.

Los Angeles district judge Dolly Gee said in her Friday ruling that the children must be released from the facilities due to the risk of catching coronavirus at the centers.

The judge said "half measures" carried out by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to stop the spread of the disease among detainees had failed.

"The (Family Residential Centers) are �on fire� and there is no more time for half measures," Gee wrote.

Her ruling noted 124 children were currently in ICE detention facilities and ordered them released by July 17, either with their parents or into the custody of "suitable sponsors" with parental consent.

Two detention centers have confirmed cases of the infection. CNN reported on Friday that more than 2,500 people in ICE custody have confirmed coronavirus infections.

Reports published by a number of human rights groups have revealed the dire conditions of hapless refugees held at the ICE detention centers. One report titled Justice-Free Zones: US Immigration Detention Under the Trump Administration published by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Human Rights Watch (HRW), and National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) highlights the "inhumane" conditions at one of these facilities.

The "detention machine has exploded" under the Trump administration, warned the report released last month.

US President Donald Trump�s "zero tolerance" policy against refugees launched in 2018 saw thousands of migrant children separated from their parents by the federal agents at the border.

Last week the US Supreme Court dismissed the Trump administration�s cancellation of a program protecting 700,000 "Dreamers" -- undocumented migrants brought to the United States as children.

SOURCE: PRESS TV

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/18909

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