Cite as: 507 U. S. 292 (1993)
Stevens, J., dissenting
What the Agency failed to explain may be even more significant than what it did say. It made no comment at all on the uniform body of professional opinion that recognizes the harmful consequences of the detention of juveniles.19 It
made no comment on the period of detention that would be required for the completion of deportation proceedings, or the reasons why the rule places no limit on the duration of the detention. Moreover, there is no explanation for the absence of any specified procedure for either the consideration or the review of a request for release to an apparently responsible person.20 It is difficult to understand why an
elaborate home study that might be appropriate as a predicate to the adoption of a newborn baby should not cost as much as a few days of detention. Moreover, it is perfectly obvious that the qualifications of most responsible persons can readily be determined by a hearing officer, and that in any doubtful case release should be denied. The respondents have never argued that there is a duty to release juveniles to "just any adult." 53 Fed. Reg. 17449 (1988).
19 Consistent with the standards developed by the American Bar Association and other organizations and agencies, see n. 7, supra, the United States Department of Justice's own Standards for the Administration of Juvenile Justice describe "the harsh impact that even brief detention may have on a juvenile, especially when he/she is placed in a secure facility, and the corresponding need to assure as quickly as possible that such detention is necessary." U. S. Dept. of Justice, Standards for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, supra n. 7, at 304.
20 As Judge Rymer pointed out in her separate opinion in the Court of Appeals: "Unlike the statutes at issue in Schall v. Martin, 467 U. S. 253 . . . (1984), and [United States v.] Salerno, [481 U. S. 739 (1987),] which survived due process challenges, the INS regulations provide no opportunity for the reasoned consideration of an alien juvenile's release to the custody of a non-relative by a neutral hearing officer. Nor is there any provision for a prompt hearing on a § 242.24(b)(4) release. No findings or reasons are required. Nothing in the regulations provides the unaccompanied detainee any help, whether from counsel, a parent or guardian, or anyone else. Similarly, the regulation makes no provision for appointing a guardian if no family member or legal guardian comes forward. There is no analogue to a pretrial services report, however cursory. While the INS argues that it lacks resources to conduct home studies, there is no substantial indication that some investigation or opportunity for independ-
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