USA sues accommodation providers for sexual abuse of migrant children

The U.S. Department of Justice alleges in a lawsuit filed this week that several employees at the largest shelter for unaccompanied migrant children in the United States sexually abused and molested minors in their care.

The lawsuit in the Western District of Texas alleges a “pattern” of “serious or widespread sexual harassment” dating back to at least 2015 in the network of shelters run by the Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Southwest Key, which has served young immigrants who come to the United States without parents or guardians on behalf of the federal government.

The complaint includes alleged cases of “serious sexual abuse and rape, incitement to engage in sexual acts, incitement to provide nude photographs, incitement to engage in sexually inappropriate relationships, sexual comments and gestures.”

Migrant children who arrive at the border unaccompanied are housed by the U.S. government before being released to sponsors in the United States, typically parents or close relatives.

Southwest Key operates 29 shelters that provide temporary housing for unaccompanied children with grants from the Department of Health and Human Services in Texas, Arizona and California.

The Justice Department said Southwest Key failed to protect the children in its care and did not consistently follow federal regulations to prevent, detect and report abuse.

In a 2022 case described in the complaint, a Southwest Key employee allegedly repeatedly sexually abused a 5-year-old, an 8-year-old and an 11-year-old girl at Casa Franklin in El Paso, Texas. The 8-year-old girl said the employee threatened to kill their families if they disclosed the abuse, the complaint states.

In another 2020 case, an employee took a 15-year-old boy from Casa Kokopelli in Arizona to a hotel room for several days and paid him to perform sexual acts. In both cases, the abuse was documented in Southwest Key’s own reports, the lawsuit says.

“Sexually molesting children in homes where a child should be safe and secure is abusive, dehumanizing and unlawful,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement Thursday.

Southwest Key spokeswoman Anais Biera Miracle said in a statement that the complaint “does not accurately reflect the care and commitment our staff show to the youth and children.” The home operator said it is working with the U.S. government, as it has for two decades, to ensure the safety of the children it houses.

During President Joe Biden’s term in office, there were a record number of migrant crossings at the US border with Mexico. Democrat Biden is running for re-election against Republican former President Donald Trump, who has made criticism of current border policy a focus of his election campaign.

Since fiscal year 2021 through June of this year, more than 500,000 unaccompanied minors have arrived at the southwest border, according to the U.S. government.