DOJ Lawsuit Alleges Abuses At Nonprofit Housing Migrant Minors

The largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant minors is facing serious allegations of misconduct with minors in their care. A recent lawsuit by the Department of Justice claims that multiple employees of Southwest Key Programs Inc. engaged in inappropriate conduct with children, while the organization’s leadership failed to act.

On Thursday, the DOJ announced that it had filed a lawsuit against Southwest Key, accusing the nonprofit of violating the Fair Housing Act by either facilitating or ignoring these inappropriate acts. The lawsuit details numerous instances of misconduct, including inappropriate touching, solicitation of explicit photos, and coercive behavior.

Employees also allegedly threatened to harm the children or their families if they reported these incidents. Other staff members were aware of the misconduct but did not report it, according to the lawsuit.

Southwest Key operates 29 shelters for unaccompanied minors in the U.S., with facilities in Texas, Arizona, and California, housing up to 6,350 children. Since at least 2015, some employees have allegedly engaged in misconduct, including “inappropriate touching, solicitation of explicit photos, and coercive behavior,” the DOJ stated.

Two employees have already faced criminal charges. One male employee at the Casa Franklin shelter in El Paso, Texas, allegedly touched three young girls inappropriately. Another employee from a Tucson, Arizona, facility reportedly brought an 11-year-old boy to a hotel and coerced him into performing acts for several days.

The DOJ asserts that Southwest Key failed to take sufficient action to prevent these incidents, did not adhere to federal requirements for preventing and reporting such misconduct, and discouraged children from disclosing these behaviors.

Southwest Key receives funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As of May 31, nearly 7,800 children are in the care of HHS-funded facilities, although the exact number in Southwest Key shelters is unknown.