Panel hears case on conditions for young migrants on border

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A U.S. government lawyer says a settlement agreement requiring sanitary conditions for detained immigrant children may not necessarily mean a toothbrush and soap must be provided for shorter stays.

Sarah Fabian, senior litigation counsel for the Department of Justice, told a three judge-panel Tuesday at the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco the agreement doesn’t list items that must be provided in border facilities.

She was responding to a judge’s question about whether there could be an instance when a person didn’t need a toothbrush or soap for days.

The hearing focused on the Department’s appeal of a 2017 court ruling finding authorities breached the longstanding agreement after young immigrants caught on the southwest border said they had to sleep in cold, overcrowded cells.