This week, the Justice Department charged that the biggest provider of shelters for immigrant children under U.S. custody had neglected to safeguard young people in its government-funded facilities from “severe” and “pervasive” sexual assault.
The Justice Department accused staff members of the Texas-based nonprofit Southwest Key of sexually assaulting and harassing unaccompanied immigrant children in shelters run by the organization since at least 2015 in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday and made public on Thursday.
The lawsuit claimed that several workers at the Southwest Key shelter had sexually assaulted, molested, and inappropriately touched minors under the care of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is in charge of looking after migrant children who cross the border between the United States and Mexico without their parents.
Additionally, the Justice Department charged that Southwest Key staff members had illicit interactions with teenage migrants and had solicited nude images and sex acts from them.
According to the Justice Department, Southwest Key has received more than 100 reports of “unlawful sexual abuse or harrassment” against minors living there. The department also stated that certain personnel had faced criminal charges.
“Since at least 2015, multiple Southwest Key employees — including supervisory and non-supervisory employees — have subjected children living at Southwest Key shelter care homes to severe, pervasive, and unwelcome sexual abuse and harassment,” the Justice Department stated in its 26-page lawsuit.
According to the Justice Department, Southwest Key dissuaded children under its supervision from reporting instances of sexual abuse or harassment and did not take the necessary precautions to shield them from harm.
The agency requested that Southwest Key be subject to civil penalties and ordered to make restitution payments to the victims by a federal judge sitting in Austin, Texas. Additionally, an order compelling Southwest Key to take steps to prevent sexual abuse in its facilities was asked.
“We continue to review the complaint, and it does not present the accurate picture of the care and commitment our employees provide to the youth and children,” Southwest Key stated.
“We are in constant communication and continue to closely partner with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), as we have done so for the past two decades to ensure the children and youth entrusted to our care are safe with us during their short stay with Southwest Key,” the organization continued.
When asked if HHS will stop employing Southwest Key as a shelter provider, a representative for the agency stated that they were unable to answer because of ongoing legal matters.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said his department would “continue to closely evaluate our assignment of children into care-giving programs to ensure the safety and well-being of every child” in its possession in a statement that was part of the Justice Department’s release.
“The U.S. Department of Justice’s complaint against Southwest Key raises serious pattern or practice concerns. HHS will continue to work with the Justice Department and oversight agencies to hold its care-giving programs like Southwest Key accountable,” Becerra stated.
According to the Justice Department, Southwest Key received more than $3 billion from HHS between fiscal years 2015 and 2023, the period covered by the case, to lodge migrant children. With 29 shelters spread across Arizona, California, and Texas, Southwest Key can accommodate over 6,000 children.
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Advocates protecting migrant children expressed concerns about the Justice Department’s case.
At the southern border, unaccompanied children who are not from Mexico are handled differently by U.S. immigration officers than other migrants. They are shielded from an expedited deportation and permitted to remain in the country while their immigration cases are being processed under a 2008 anti-trafficking law.
This bipartisan 2008 law assigns HHS the responsibility of caring for unaccompanied immigrant children until they turn 18 or are placed with sponsors who are located in the United States, usually family members.
Since 2014, when unaccompanied children began to arrive in considerable numbers at American borders, officials have noted multiple surges in the number of migrant children arriving.
The Biden administration processed an unprecedented number of unaccompanied migrant children in 2021 and 2022, occasionally encountering difficulties in locating facilities to accommodate them all.
Unaccompanied minor arrivals along the southern border have decreased over the past year.
