Feds Kept Sending Migrant Kids To Behemoth Nonprofit Plagued With Sexual Abuse Allegations

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).