The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Key, the largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children, alleging severe and pervasive sexual abuse and harassment of children in its care.

Justice Department sues #SouthwestKey for sexual abuse and harassment of children in shelters#civilrights https://t.co/SaCbeycVqr pic.twitter.com/07MDBrVszv

— US Attorney SDTX (@USAO_SDTX) July 18, 2024

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The lawsuit claims that Southwest Key employees, including supervisors, have been involved in acts such as rape, touching, and solicitation of sex and nude images of children since at least 2015. At least two employees have been charged since 2020.

This is the Southwest Key Programs facility in Tuscon Arizona! @JJCarrell14@RealAmVoice@stinchfield1776 pic.twitter.com/frcPTZzRY0

— RyanMatta 🇺🇸 🦅 (@RyanMattaMedia) July 6, 2024

Based in Austin, Southwest Key operates 29 child migrant shelters in Texas, Arizona, and California, serving children aged 5 to 17.

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The lawsuit alleges repeated abuse of a 5-year-old in an El Paso shelter and the exploitation of an 11-year-old at a Tucson, Arizona, shelter in 2020.

According to the lawsuit, the children were threatened with violence if they reported the abuse. It also stated that some staff members knew about the ongoing abuse and failed to report it or concealed it.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra commented that the complaint raises serious pattern or practice concerns about Southwest Key and reiterated the department’s zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse, harassment, inappropriate sexual behavior, and discrimination.

This lawsuit comes shortly after a federal judge granted the Justice Department’s request to lift special court oversight of Health and Human Services care of unaccompanied migrant children, a decision that was supported by Joe Biden’s administration, arguing that new safeguards made special oversight unnecessary 27 years after it began.

This is a Southwest key programs facility in Brownsville Texas. This FEMA-style camp holds female girls between 0-12 years old. For a vast majority of these children, this will B the last location they R seen alive. 438,573 missing migrant children?@informantcarlos@JJCarrell14 pic.twitter.com/h2aReeYfMO

— RyanMatta 🇺🇸 🦅 (@RyanMattaMedia) July 16, 2024