Donald Trump administration withdraws lawsuit against firm accused of migrant child sexual abuse

The Donald ruff organization moved to send away a civic cause on Wednesday against Southwest Key Programs, the largest provider of migrant child housing, over allegations of sexual abuse and harassment of unaccompanied minors, the Associated Press reported. The US government also said it would no longer use the provider.

The motion to dismiss was filed after federal authorities relocated all unaccompanied children from Southwest Key’s shelters to other facilities.

The lawsuit, filed during the Joe Biden administration, accused the organisation of multiple offences between 2015 and 2023. During this period, Southwest Key Programs, which runs shelters in Texas, Arizona, and California, secured nearly $3 billion in contracts from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

HHS said that it had stopped placing children in Southwest Key’s shelters “out of continuing concerns relating to these placements” and would reassess grants given to the contractor.

As a result, the Department of Justice dropped the lawsuit, according to HHS.

The shelter provider welcomed the case dismissal, saying, “Southwest Key strongly denied the claims relating to child sexual abuse in our shelters, and there is no settlement or payment required."

They further said, “We always believed the facts would prove the allegations to be without merit. We thank the Government for its commitment to reviewing the whole record and dropping the case with prejudice.”

This week, Southwest Key Programs furloughed employees nationwide.

“Due to the unforeseen federal funding freeze and the stop placement order on our unaccompanied minor shelters and Home Study Post Release programs by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, we have made the difficult decision to furlough approximately 5,000 Southwest Key Programs’ employees,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Federal authorities had accused Southwest Key employees, including supervisors, of sexually abusing children in their care, according to a 2024 lawsuit. The allegations included rape, inappropriate touching, and soliciting sex and nude images from minors as far back as 2015.

The lawsuit detailed multiple cases of abuse. At the Casa Franklin shelter in El Paso, Texas, an employee allegedly “repeatedly sexually abused” three girls, ages 5, 8, and 11. The 8-year-old told investigators the worker “entered their bedrooms in the middle of the night to touch their ‘private area.’”

In another case, an employee at a Mesa, Arizona, shelter allegedly took a 15-year-old boy to a hotel in 2020 and paid him for sexual acts over several days.

Children were reportedly warned against speaking out about the abuse, with threats of violence against them or their families if they did, the lawsuit stated. Some victims also testified that other employees were aware of the abuse but failed to report it or actively covered it up.

“DOJ's lawsuit revealed horrific sexual abuse and inhumane treatment of children detained in Southwest Key shelters,” said Leecia Welch, an attorney representing unaccompanied children in a separate case

“It's shocking to me that the government now turns a blind eye to their own contractor's actions. I hope the impacted children will have other legal recourse and support in healing from their abuse.”

Although the Justice Department has dropped the lawsuit, the case could continue. The National Center for Youth Law has requested the court's permission to intervene on behalf of the affected children. If granted, the organisation would have 30 days to submit a motion.

Since 2020, at least two Southwest Key employees have faced criminal charges related to the allegations. Civil lawsuits typically seek a jury trial and financial compensation for victims.

(With inputs from Associated Press)

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