Federal authorities announced a lawsuit against the nation's leading housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S., alleging employees at the nonprofit committed "severe sexual abuse" against the minors in its care.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Western District of Texas, against Southwest Key Programs covers over 100 instances of abuse against children ranging in age from 5 to 17 and occurring between 2013 and 2023. Prosecutors allege employees at the Texas-based organization knew about the host of abuses, including rape and coercing nude photos, and failed to protect the children it received billions from the federal government to support, according to the lawsuit.

“The sexual harassment alleged in the complaint would destroy any child’s sense of safety, turning what was an American Dream into a nightmare," said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas in a statement.

The lawsuit comes as the nonprofit's federal funding has grown tremendously and as it has become the government's leading partner in providing housing for tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors crossing the border annually, according to the lawsuit. Southwest Key operates 29 shelters; houses 6,350 children across Texas, Arizona, and California; and has received over $3 billion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over the nine years covered by the lawsuit.

The lawsuit aims to win a civil penalty for the alleged victims of abuse and a court order requiring Southwest to take steps to avoid future abuse, Justice Department officials said.

"Sexual harassment of children in residential shelters, where a child should be safe and secure, is abusive, dehumanizing, and unlawful," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. "Sexual abuse of children is a crisis that we can’t ignore or turn a blind eye to. This lawsuit seeks relief for children who have been abused and harmed, and meaningful reforms to ensure no child in these shelters is ever subjected to sexual abuse again."

'Severe sexual abuse and rape'

The lawsuit details a litany of allegations against unnamed Southwest Key employees, including everything from “severe sexual abuse and rape” to solicitation of sex acts and nude photos.

In Channelview, Texas, an employee "repeatedly raped, abused, and threatened a teenage girl" throughout her stay at the nonprofit's Casa Montezuma shelter in 2019, according to the lawsuit. He threatened to hospitalize her if she spoke about the abuse, court filings say. Prosecutors allege other employees knew about the abuse but didn't report it.

Another Southwest Key worker allegedly "repeatedly sexually abused" a 5-year-old girl, an 8-year-old girl, and an 11-year-old girl at Casa Franklin in El Paso, Texas, in 2022, the lawsuit said. The employee entered their rooms at night to touch their "private area" and threatened to kill their families if they spoke up, according to the lawsuit.

An employee at the nonprofit's Casa Kokopelli shelter in Arizona pleaded guilty to felony attempted sexual misconduct with a minor in 2022 in Maricopa County after absconding with a 15-year-old boy to a hotel for days where the Southwest Key staffer paid the teenager for sex acts, court documents said.

The misconduct came at the hands of staff at almost every level of Southwest operations, from teachers who inappropriately touched the children to medical staff who asked minors graphic questions about sex.

Southwest Key Chief Communications Officer Anais Biera Miracle disputed the findings of the lawsuit,

The lawsuit “does not present the accurate picture of the care and commitment our employees provide to the youth and children,” Miracle said in a statement. “Southwest Key Programs’ primary focus is the safety, health, and well-being of each one of the children and youth we care for.”

Who is Southwest Key Programs taking care of?

Southwest Key Programs has skyrocketed in its role as a federal partner in recent years as the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border has grown tremendously.

Over 90,000 unaccompanied minors crossed the border in fiscal year 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. Over 137,000 crossed annually in fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021.

After being taken into custody by Border Patrol, the unaccompanied children are transferred to Health and Human Services which is then charged with finding them care until they can be reunited with family or until they turn 18.

Southwest Key Program shelters have become Health and Human Services’ key partners for housing the children. The shelters house anywhere from 20 to 1,200 minors, according to the lawsuit. The children eat, sleep, and attend school at the facilities.

As many as 27,000 kids can cycle through Southwest Key Programs facilities in a year, according to a company report from 2021. The typical stay is 28 days.

The federal government has supported the nonprofit shelters with grants since at least 2003, according to Health and Human Services' published grants data.

It skyrocketed in prominence in 2018 after former President Donald Trump's policy of separating minors from parents came into effect. Federal funding for the nonprofit grew by nearly 120% that year to $626 million, according to a USA TODAY analysis of the data. Southwest Key received nearly $980 million in fiscal year 2024.

Officials, advocates react

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra fired back at the company for the abuses allegedly committed at the federal agency's leading housing provider for unaccompanied minors.

“HHS has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, inappropriate sexual behavior, and discrimination,” Becerra said. “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. And we will continue to closely evaluate our assignment of children into caregiving programs to ensure the safety and well-being of every child in HHS custody.”

Immigration rights activists seized on the lawsuit as an example of why shelters for migrant children need to be subject to further oversight.

The Acacia Center for Justice, a prominent immigrant rights advocacy group, said the allegations in the lawsuit were a clear example of the need to reform how the U.S. houses unaccompanied minors.

“Decades of evidence-based research into best practices in child welfare and child protection have clearly shown that any custodial system must have robust and accountable oversight mechanisms," Executive Director Shaina Aber told USA TODAY in a statement, adding the unaccompanied minors should have access to legal advocates and be swiftly reunited with family. "When people talk about potential dangers children face in community, they often assume children are safer in custody of DHS or HHS. In reality, children thrive best when they are surrounded by family, receive legal and social work support and integrate into supportive communities as they navigate our complex immigration process."

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