Washington, D.C., Dec. 12, 2025 — On December 12, a federal court in D.C. ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to follow a long-standing court order that protects immigrant teens from being placed in adult detention centers. The court’s order blocks a new ICE policy to automatically shuttle unaccompanied children into adult detention once they turn 18.
Read the court order here and the opinion here.
The order specifically covers children who originally entered the United States as unaccompanied minors and who “age out” of the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) (the federal program that looks after unaccompanied children by placing them in shelters and then later with family and/or guardians).
This federal court decision enforces a 2021 permanent injunction in Garcia Ramirez v. ICE, which requires ICE to comply with their statutory obligations by considering the least restrictive setting available for every unaccompanied child who turns18 and to make all age-outs eligible for alternatives to detention.
“This ruling makes clear that ICE cannot secretly flout the law or blatantly ignore court orders,” said Suchita Mathur, senior litigation attorney with the American Immigration Council. “ICE tried to detain newly-18-year-olds as a matter of course. These are kids that ICE officers have found, in almost all cases, do not pose a danger or flight risk, with sponsors, families, and community support waiting for them. This decision puts a stop to that.”
Under a new policy published October 1, ICE told shelters and attorneys that all unaccompanied children turning 18 would be transferred to adult detention, even when they had safe homes and sponsors waiting to receive them. Adult detention threatens the teenagers’ short- and long-term development. Currently, ICE is holding a record number of people in detention, fueling overcrowding and dehumanizing conditions like lack of adequate medical care, abusive treatment, and restricted access to legal and psychological help. The court found that automatically sending teens into adult detention, without considering safer, age-appropriate alternatives, is a violation of the law.
“Today’s ruling sends a powerful message: ICE can’t put teenagers in dangerous, overcrowded facilities just because they turned 18,” said Mark Fleming, associate director of federal litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center. “There are safer, lawful options that keep young people connected to school, family, and community. That’s what the law requires, and that’s what this order restores.”
The court’s ruling requires ICE to immediately stop following its October 1 guidance and to remove anyone placed under detention as a result.
Read the court order here and the opinion here.
