The federal government directed scores of migrant kids to the care of a nonprofit plagued with sexual abuse allegations that date back years, a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit reveals.
Multiple employees for Southwest Key, the nation’s largest housing provider for unaccompanied minors, allegedly subjected kids in their care to “repeated” sexual abuse and harassment from at least 2015 through 2023, according to a lawsuit filed by the DOJ. Southwest Key has served as a major partner for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in providing housing for unaccompanied migrant children, with the Austin, Texas-based nonprofit group operating 29 child migrant shelters in several southern border states and thousands of children in its care.
The acts of abuse allegedly include rape, the solicitation of sex acts and nude photographs, severe sexual abuse and other “sexually inappropriate” relationships, according to the lawsuit. Some Southwest Key employees allegedly involved in the abuse would force the children to stay silent by threatening them and exploiting their vulnerabilities as young migrants who did not speak English and lived far away from relatives.
The alleged incidents raise questions as to why the federal government kept partnering with Southwest Key, awarding it taxpayer grants even after employees were accused of sexual abuse. Between 2015 and 2023, the organization received more than three billion in funding from HHS, and has the capacity to accommodate more than 6,000 children, according to the DOJ lawsuit.
The lawsuit does not specify exactly how many children were allegedly subjected to abuse, but it states that “multiple” Southwest Key employees were involved and lists several documented cases of alleged abuse.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), an HHS subagency, manages unaccompanied migrant children needing housing and care in the U.S. through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (OCR).
ACF declined to comment on its relationship with Southwest Key and wouldn’t provide answers as to why it maintained a yearslong partnership with the nonprofit despite there being an alleged history of sexual abuse occurring at its facilities, instead referring the Daily Caller News Foundation to the DOJ, which also declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Southwest Key confirmed that the nonprofit is still in partnership with the OCR.
“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 spokesperson said.
The alleged victims range from as young as five years old and up to 17 years of age, according to the lawsuit.
The DOJ lawsuit mentions one report where a Southwest Key employee in 2022 allegedly “repeatedly” sexually abused a five-year-old girl, an eight-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl at a facility in El Paso Texas. In the case of the eight-year-old, she alleged the employee would “repeatedly” enter their bedrooms in the middle of the night to touch their “private area” and threaten to kill their families if they told anyone about the ongoing abuse.
“HHS has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, inappropriate sexual behavior, and discrimination,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a Thursday statement announcing the lawsuit. “The U.S. Department of Justice’s complaint against Southwest Key raises serious pattern or practice concerns.”
In another report noted in the lawsuit, a Southwest Key employee in 2020 allegedly took a 15-year-old boy out of the facility and brought him to a hotel room for several days where the employee then paid him for sex acts. That particular employee was indicted in Maricopa County Superior Court and pleaded guilty in March 2022 to felony attempted sexual conduct with a minor.
Since President Joe Biden entered office, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have encountered more than 490,000 unaccompanied minors along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the latest CBP data.
“Southwest Key Programs’ primary focus is the safety, health, and well-being of each one of the children and youth we care for,” the Southwest Key spokesperson told the DCNF. “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.”
