Trump Admin Pulls Children from Migrant Shelters Over Sexual Abuse Claims; HHS Stops Placing Illegal Immigrant Children in Southwest Key Shelters

By admin On Mar 24, 2025

Trump admin pulls children from migrant shelters over sexual abuse claims:

Southwest Key furloughs employees.

President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services released a joint statement on Wednesday announcing that unaccompanied migrant children will no longer be placed in shelters operated by Southwest Key Programs.

The departments called it a “move to end sexual abuse and harassment,” noting that all the children have been moved to other shelters.

Southwest Key, a nonprofit organization, runs more than two dozen temporary living facilities in Texas, Arizona, and California, making it the largest shelter provider for foreign national children who entered the United States without a parent or guardian.

The DOJ and HSS’ joint press release noted that the decision to remove the children stemmed from a July 2024 lawsuit that alleged Southwest Key employees “subjected unaccompanied alien children in its care to unlawful sexual harassment and abuse.”

The lawsuit accused some employees of raping, inappropriately touching, and soliciting sex from the children beginning in 2015. One worker allegedly “repeatedly sexually abused” several girls, with the youngest only 5 years old.

“Out of continuing concerns relating to these placements, HHS has decided to stop placement of unaccompanied alien children in Southwest Key facilities and to review its grants with the organization. In view of HHS’ action, the Department of Justice has dismissed its lawsuit against Southwest Key,” the press release explained.

At least two workers have faced criminal charges in connection with the allegations, the Associated Press reported.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, “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,” he added. —>READ MORE HERE

HHS Stops Placing Illegal Immigrant Children in Southwest Key Shelters:

The Department of Justice has also dropped its lawsuit against Texas-based Southwest Key Programs Inc.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated on March 12 that it has stopped placing unaccompanied illegal immigrant children in shelters operated by housing provider Southwest Key Programs Inc. over allegations of sexual abuse and harassment. HHS stated that it has moved all minors previously housed at those facilities to other shelters.

According to the department, it decided to stop placing children in Southwest Key facilities “out of continuing concerns relating to these placements.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has also dismissed its civil rights lawsuit against the Texas-based provider, HHS said in a statement.

Southwest Key Programs Inc. has worked with the federal government since 1996, according to its website. It operates residential shelters in Arizona, California, and Texas, providing temporary housing for children younger than 18 who enter the United States without a parent or guardian and legal immigration status.

Southwest Key Programs is funded by grants from the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to HHS. The department has stated that it will review its grants with the organization.

“This administration is working fearlessly to end the tragedy of human trafficking and other abuses of unaccompanied alien children who enter the country illegally,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. “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 lawsuit against Southwest Key Programs was initially filed by the DOJ in July 2024. The department alleged that from at least 2015 to 2023, employees at Southwest Key subjected children in their care to repeated and unwelcome “sexual abuse, harassment, and misconduct and a hostile housing environment.”