The Trump administration has dropped a civil lawsuit against Southwest Key Programs, the nation's largest provider of housing for unaccompanied migrant children, over allegations of sexual abuse and harassment of minors under its care. The decision follows the administration's move to cease placing children in Southwest Key facilities and relocate them to other shelters.
The lawsuit, originally filed by the Biden administration in 2024, alleged that Southwest Key employees engaged in a pattern of sexual abuse and exploitation between 2015 and 2023. The Department of Justice (DOJ) originally sought damages for victims, citing cases in which staff members allegedly raped, inappropriately touched, or solicited sexual acts from children as young as five years old.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the administration's decision, through a statement in which Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explains:
"This administration is working fearlessly to end the tragedy of human trafficking and other abuses of unaccompanied alien children who enter the country illegally. For too long, pernicious actors have exploited such children both before and after they enter the United States. Today's action is a significant step toward ending this appalling abuse of innocents."
The statement, however, doesn't elaborate on the reasons behind dropping the suit, limiting the explanation to one line that reads: "In view of HHS' action, the Department of Justice has dismissed its lawsuit against Southwest Key." HHS did not clarify whether it would pursue additional action against Southwest Key but stated that it had stopped placements in the organization's shelters "out of continuing concerns relating to these placements."
Southwest Key denied wrongdoing and expressed satisfaction with the lawsuit's dismissal through a statement reported by The Associated Press:
"Southwest Key strongly denied the claims relating to child sexual abuse in our shelters, and there is no settlement or payment required. We always believed the facts would prove the allegations to be without merit"
The lawsuit alleged multiple instances of abuse, including an employee at a Texas shelter who allegedly abused three girls aged 5, 8, and 11, and another case where a worker at an Arizona facility reportedly took a 15-year-old boy to a hotel and paid him for sexual acts over several days. Victims claimed they were threatened with violence if they reported the abuse, and in some cases, other staff members allegedly concealed or ignored it.
The National Center for Youth Law has asked the court to allow it to intervene in the case, arguing that the government's dismissal does not provide justice for the victims. "DOJ's lawsuit revealed horrific sexual abuse and inhumane treatment of children detained in Southwest Key shelters," said Leecia Welch, an attorney representing unaccompanied minors in a separate case. "It's shocking to me that the government now turns a blind eye to their own contractor's actions."
The decision comes amid broader scrutiny of the federal government's oversight of unaccompanied migrant children. Advocates have raised concerns that removing Southwest Key from the network of shelters could exacerbate capacity issues, potentially leading to longer stays for children in Border Patrol custody.
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