Federal Government Files Lawsuit Against Southwest Keys for Alleged Severe Sexual Harassment of Migrant Children

Federal Authorities Sue Southwest Key for Discrimination and Sexual Abuse

The federal government filed a complaint against Southwest Key on Wednesday, alleging it discriminated “because of sex in violation of the Fair Housing Act by subjecting unaccompanied children residing in its shelters to severe and pervasive sexual harassment by employees.”

The organization, a national nonprofit, operates at least 29 shelters in Texas, Arizona, and California, making it the largest such organization in the country.

Failure to Protect

The litigation was filed by the DOJ in an Austin federal court and says that from at least 2015 through 2023, multiple Southwest Key employees have subjected unaccompanied migrant children “in their care to repeated and unwelcome sexual abuse, harassment, and misconduct and a hostile housing environment, including severe sexual abuse and rape, solicitation of sex acts, solicitation of nude photos, entreaties for sexually inappropriate relationships, sexual comments and gestures, leering, and inappropriate touching.”

And in some cases, the lawsuit said, the employees have threatened children to maintain their silence.

“In harassing these children, these Southwest Key employees exploited the children’s vulnerabilities, language barriers, and distance from family and loved ones,” the lawsuit stated.

Federal authorities said that despite knowledge “of these severe and pervasive harms,” Southwest Key has failed to protect the children it is supposed to care for, which they allege constitutes a pattern or practice of discrimination in housing because of sex in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

The children in their care ranged from as young as 5 years old to teenagers just shy of adulthood. Many of them arrived at the border, mainly from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, or Mexico, among other countries.

“Many of these children travel without their parents or guardians and endure dangerous conditions and traumatic treatment both in their home countries and during their journey to the United States,” the lawsuit stated.

When the children arrive in the United States, they are taken into federal custody and transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, or ORR, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, which provides the nonprofit with federal grants.

As of now, Southwest Key operates 29 shelters that can accommodate 6,350 children across Texas, which has 17; Arizona, which has 10; and California, which has two.

In the Valley, the nonprofit has shelters in Weslaco, Brownsville, McAllen, San Benito, and Los Fresnos. Brownsville has four shelters, including Casa Padre, which is a converted Walmart that can hold 1,200 children — the nonprofit’s largest shelter.

Casa Padre was under much scrutiny during former President Donald Trump’s family separation policy. Politicians and media from across the country descended on the location along with local media as the nonprofit was shrouded in secrecy at the time in terms of the conditions inside.

An Oregon senator was initially turned away, and Brownsville police were called, but Southwest Key relented and gave a much-publicized congressional tour.

Shortly thereafter, Trump rescinded family separation.

In a statement, Southwest Key Chief Communications Officer Anais Biera Miracle said the nonprofit's primary focus is on the safety, health, and well-being of all the children it cares for.

“We continue to review the complaint, and it does not present the accurate picture of the care and commitment our employees provide to the youth and children,” Miracle said in the statement. “We are in constant communication and continue to closely partner with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), as we have done so for the past two decades to ensure the children and youth entrusted to our care are safe with us during their short stay with Southwest Key.”

‘Unwelcome Sexual Abuse’

Allegations of sexual abuse were already surfacing at the time prior to and during that congressional visit. There were also reports of runaway children from the location, including one child who took a bus back to Honduras.

The lawsuit said those complaints began in 2015.

“Since at least 2015, multiple Southwest Key employees — including supervisory and non-supervisory employees — have subjected children living at Southwest Key shelter care homes to severe, pervasive, and unwelcome sexual abuse and harassment, including as documented by Southwest Key Reports,” the lawsuit stated.