On Monday, July 8th 2018, U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee in Los Angeles blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to place the children of asylum seeking families in long term detention. A 1997 federal court settlement bars authorities from detaining children for more than 20 days when their parents are arrested for trying to enter the U.S. illegally. Judge Gee refused to amend the so-called “Flores Settlement”, calling the government’s efforts “a cynical attempt…to shift responsibility to the Judiciary for over 20 years of Congressional inaction and ill considered Executive action that have led to the current stalemate”.