Texas: Nonprofit organization houses sexually abused immigrant children, Justice Department lawsuit says

According to the lawsuit, staff at several homes in Southwest Key sexually abused children, asked them to perform sexual acts and take nude photos, and discouraged them from reporting the abuse. In some cases, the children and their families were threatened.

“In search of the American dream, children often face dangerous journeys as they migrate north to the southern border,” Alamdar Hamdani, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said in a press release. “The sexual harassment alleged in the lawsuit would destroy every child’s sense of security and turn the American dream into a nightmare.”

Southwest Key said in a statement that the Justice Department’s lawsuit “does not accurately reflect the care and commitment of our staff to the youth and children.”

“We remain in constant contact and continue to work closely with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), as we have for two decades, to ensure that the children and youth entrusted to our care are safe with us during their brief stay in Southwest Key,” said Anais Biera Miracle, spokeswoman for Southwest Key.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which runs the Office of Refugee Resettlement, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Southwest Key operates 29 shelters in Texas, Arizona and California, according to the Justice Department. The shelters can accommodate about 6,000 unaccompanied minors who are referred to Southwest Key by federal authorities after they arrive at the southern border, the lawsuit says.

Southwest Key received more than $3 billion in funding from the Department of Health and Human Services between fiscal years 2015 and 2023, the lawsuit says.

During that time, Southwest Key received more than 100 reports of sexual harassment or abuse of children in its care, and the nonprofit organization allowed that abuse without adequate intervention, the Justice Department alleged.

In 2019, a caregiver at a home in Channelview, Texas, repeatedly raped, abused and threatened a young girl who reported the abuse by slipping a note to her teacher while the caregiver was on vacation, the lawsuit says. The girl was transferred to another home.

This year, a doctor at a home in Mesa, Arizona, asked a teenager probing and detailed questions about sex, asked her if she wanted to be hugged and “studied her body,” prompting the girl to complain, according to the lawsuit.

In 2022, a youth worker at an El Paso home repeatedly sexually abused a 5-year-old, an 8-year-old and an 11-year-old girl and threatened to kill the children’s families if they reported the abuse, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit does not detail what happened to the employees accused of abuse after the incidents were reported.

Southwest Key staff have repeatedly failed to report knowledge or suspicion of sexual abuse and harassment and have used threats to coerce children into silence, the Justice Department alleges. In one case, a child with physical marks who reported sexual assault was told by a Southwest Key staff member to “cover up” the marks. In another case, Southwest Key staff allegedly discouraged a child from reporting harassment by telling her it would delay her reunification with her family.

Southwest Key’s website says most of the children in its care are between the ages of 13 and 17 and are from Central America. The children typically stay at Southwest Key’s homes for about 30 days, where staff provide them with medical care, education and recreational activities, according to the nonprofit and the Justice Department lawsuit.

The nonprofit grew rapidly during the Trump administration, and its shelters were among those that took in children separated from their families at the border in 2018 under the former president’s immigration policy, The Washington Post previously reported.

Allegations of abuse and mistreatment at Southwest Key facilities have surfaced previously as the nonprofit’s facilities have come under scrutiny during this time period. A Southwest Key employee was convicted in 2018 of sexually abusing seven teenage boys at a Mesa facility.

The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, which advocates for youth to be reunited with family members after arriving at the border, said in a statement on the lawsuit that large shelters put unaccompanied minors at risk of abuse.

“Every child who has been the victim of abuse in custody is entitled to immediate care, attention and justice,” the statement said.

With the lawsuit, the Justice Department is seeking civil penalties and damages for children who were allegedly abused and harassed at Southwest Key facilities.