AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against a Texas-based nonprofit over alleged sexual misconduct and harassment against children.
The lawsuit alleges that employees of Southwest Key, which provides shelter to unaccompanied children who are found at the U.S.-Mexico border, engaged in a pattern of sexual abuse and harassment of children in shelters, in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
Southwest Key operates 29 shelters that provide temporary housing for unaccompanied children in Texas, Arizona and California and is the largest housing provider for unaccompanied children in the U.S., according to the DOJ. Unaccompanied children are minors who enter the U.S. without parents or other legal guardians and without legal U.S. immigration status. The shelters are designed to serve as the children’s homes until they are reunited with their immediate families or placed with a relative or other vetted sponsor while their immigration cases proceed.
“I think that's the thing that worries us the most, is seeing these trusted programs, that there's abuse happening," Dr. Bob Sanborn, president of Children at Risk, said. “Immigrant kids are super vulnerable, whether they're accompanied or not. These are kids that don't know what's happening. Many times, it's a new language for them.”
The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleges that from 2015 through at least 2023, multiple Southwest Key employees subjected children in their care to severe or pervasive sexual harassment that has included, among other things, sexual contact and inappropriate touching, solicitation of sex acts, solicitation of nude photos, entreaties for inappropriate relationships and sexual comments.
The complaint also claims that the nonprofit took insufficient action to prevent sexual harassment of the children in its care, failed to consistently follow federal requirements for preventing, detecting and reporting abuse including sexual harassment, failed to take appropriate or sufficient action to protect the children in its care and discouraged children from disclosing sexual harassment in violation of federal requirements, despite the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) having issued multiple corrective actions to Southwest Key.
“Sexual harassment of children in residential shelters, where a child should be safe and secure, is abusive, dehumanizing and unlawful,” Asst. Atty. Gen. Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said. “Sexual abuse of children is a crisis that we can’t ignore or turn a blind eye to. This lawsuit seeks relief for children who have been abused and harmed, and meaningful reforms to ensure no child in these shelters is ever subjected to sexual abuse again.”
“HHS has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, inappropriate sexual behavior, and discrimination,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Sec. Xavier Becerra said. “The U.S. Department of Justice’s complaint against Southwest Key raises serious pattern or practice concerns. HHS will continue to work with the Justice Department and oversight agencies to hold its care-giving programs like Southwest Key accountable. And we will continue to closely evaluate our assignment of children into care-giving programs to ensure the safety and well-being of every child in HHS custody.”
“Every child has the right to feel safe and secure in their dwelling, including in shelter care,” U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas said. “This lawsuit seeks to provide a pathway for justice and healing for these children, who are among the most vulnerable in our society.”
The department’s lawsuit seeks monetary damages to compensate children who were harmed by the alleged harassment, a civil penalty to vindicate the public interest and a court order barring future discrimination and requiring Southwest Key to take appropriate steps to prevent similar harassment in the future.
“They don't engage in something like this unless they have done a thorough investigation and found that there's merit in their claim," Charlie Baird, an attorney and former Travis County judge, said.
Baird said for now, this is a civil case from the DOJ, but it could become much larger.
“There could be criminal prosecutions as a result of this, and it could be that, perhaps, individual employees at Southwest Key have engaged in and tap an appropriate sexual contact with these children," Baird said.
Baird said when it comes to the DOJ, it’s often that the department has put in the work to prove allegations like these are true.
Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of sexual harassment or abuse at Southwest Key shelters or who may have other information that could be deemed relevant to this case may contact the Justice Department’s housing discrimination tip line at 1-833-591-0291. For Spanish dial “2,” then dial “2” for sexual harassment cases and “3” for the Southwest Key lawsuit mailbox. For English, dial “1,” then dial “2” for sexual harassment cases and “9” for the Southwest Key lawsuit mailbox. Individuals can also email a report to the Justice Department at southwest.key@usdoj.gov or report through an online portal at civilrights.justice.gov/link/southwestkey.
This is not the first time Southwest Key has been in the news for negative reasons. Back in 2018, after the New York Times called out the organization's founder for making millions off of migrant children, Dr. Juan Sánchez said he would review how the company spent its money.