CA9 Denies DHS Stay Request in Flores

Flores v. Barr, Oct. 4, 2020

"The government has not satisfactorily explained why ORR’s largely empty shelters are not capable of absorbing even as many as 140 additional minors a week for short-term stays before those minors are expelled under Title 42. Nor has the government offered testimony from any public health official explaining why holding minors in hotels, which are open to the public, presents less risk of COVID-19 exposure and spread, both to the minors and to the public, than holding them in licensed facilities. Finally, if any of the problems prophesied by the government show signs of materializing, the district court’s orders give the government the option of “alert[ing] Plaintiffs and the Independent Monitor” that “exigent circumstances . . . necessitate . . . hotel placements” and “providing good cause for why such unlicensed placements are necessary.” ... The government has not established that irreparable harm will result if the district court’s orders take effect while this appeal is pending. ... Having concluded that the government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its appeal and that it has not established a likelihood of irreparable injury, we deny the motion for a stay pending appeal ... ."