Justice Department says shelter for unaccompanied migrant children is being sexually abused and harassed – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

The largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children is guilty of “serious, widespread” sexual abuse and harassment of the children entrusted to it, the Ministry of Justice accuses.

According to a Justice Department lawsuit filed Wednesday, Southwest Key employees, including supervisors, have raped, touched or solicited sexual and nude images from children in their care since at least 2015. At least two employees have been charged since 2020, according to the lawsuit.

The allegations include the repeated abuse of a 5-year-old while in the care of a Southwest Key home in El Paso. In 2020, a youth worker at the provider’s home in Tucson, Arizona, took an 11-year-old boy to a hotel for several days and paid the minor to perform sexual acts on the worker, the Justice Department alleges.

The children were threatened with violence against themselves or their families if they reported the abuse, the lawsuit says. Additionally, testimony from victims revealed that in some cases, staff knew about the ongoing abuse but failed to report it or covered it up.

Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said Thursday the complaint raised “serious concerns about the pattern of conduct or practice” regarding Southwest Key. “The Department of Health has a zero-tolerance policy toward all forms of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, inappropriate sexual conduct and discrimination,” he said in a statement.

On its website, Southwest Key stated that it has been a key partner in the U.S. response to the immigration crisis at our southern border for more than two decades. “SWK provides protection to immigrant children under the age of 18 who come to this country without a parent or guardian. SWK works to reunite them with a parent, relative or sponsor.”

In the complaint, the Justice Department said the children in Southwest Key’s care range in age from 5 to 18. Southwest Key said most of the children in its care are between 13 and 17 years old and are from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

“During the short time they are with us, we seek to provide them with refuge and care to support their future success,” the company said. “After reunification, we ensure safety and well-being in their new homes while connecting them with community services. Staff in 18 states nationwide serve youth referred by ORR through our Home Study and Post-Rerelease programs.”

Austin-based Southwest Key is the largest provider of shelters for unaccompanied migrant children and is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The organization has 29 shelters for migrant children: 17 in Texas, 10 in Arizona and two in California.

The lawsuit comes less than three weeks after a federal judge granted the Justice Department’s request to lift special oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services’ care of unaccompanied migrant children. President Joe Biden’s administration argued that new safeguards made special oversight unnecessary 27 years after it was put in place.

The Associated Press left a message with the company seeking comment Thursday.