Settlement not reached in family detention lawsuit

No settlement has been reached between the U.S. Justice Department and immigrant rights lawyers who sued over the conditions in detention centers for immigrant children arriving with their mothers on the U.S-Mexico border.

Lawyers said in court papers filed in Los Angeles on Friday that both parties were unable to reach an agreement that would resolve the dispute.

Lawyers for both sides have been trying to strike a deal since a federal judge issued a tentative ruling in April that the current family detention system violates an 18-year-old court settlement that bars immigrant children from being held in unlicensed, secure facilities.

Without a settlement, U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee could issue a ruling that would affect two detention centers in Texas and one in Pennsylvania holding Central American women and their children.