News Summaries in April 2024
“Peter Schey, Tenacious Lawyer Who Defended Migrant Rights, Dies at 77,” New York Times, April 30, 2024 Peter Schey, a defender of the human rights of migrants crossing the southern border of the U.S., died April 2 at the age of 77. His death was attributed to complications from lymphoma. He led a legal team that in 1997 negotiated the Flores Settlement Agreement, in which the government agreed to hold unaccompanied child migrants in safe conditions and to release them to a family member, guardian or a licensed care center within 20 days. The Flores deal was broadened in 2014 when a federal judge ruled that the 20 day limit also applied to children accompanied by parents. “Effectively, the government was forced to release adults and their children to await immigration hearings,” wrote Times reporter Trip Gabriel. Schey also won a case in which California’s Proposition 187 was declared unconstitutional. Passed by nearly 60 percent of voters and the centerpiece of the re-election c...