On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced it has ceased sending undocumented immigrant children to facilities operated by Southwest Key—the largest provider in the migrant child detention sector—citing “appalling” reports of abuse. “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,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services.
Unaccompanied alien children (UACs)—minors arriving in the U.S. without a parent—are meant to be quickly transferred from Homeland Security to the Department of Health and Human Services, which places them in shelters until their future is determined. For 15 years, Southwest Key has received billions of dollars to operate some of these shelters. These children are among the most challenging border cases, having often endured severe abuse on their journey, the Washington Times reported.
However, last year the government charged that the abuse did not stop at the border. The Justice Department accused Southwest Key employees of raping children, soliciting them to produce child pornography, and issuing threats to prevent them from reporting the abuse. The department claimed that Southwest Key was aware of this pattern of abuse and failed to intervene. In one incident, an employee allegedly absconded with a 15-year-old boy, housing him in a hotel for several days while paying him for sex. In another case, a girl reported that she was repeatedly raped, noting that other employees appeared to be complicit by arranging their shifts to give the perpetrator time alone with her, the Times said. These allegations were part of a civil lawsuit filed last year under the Fair Housing Act. On Wednesday, the government and Southwest Key agreed to dismiss that case.
Unaccompanied alien children (UACs) have long posed challenges to America’s immigration system. Their numbers started increasing significantly during the Obama administration, around the time of the creation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Due to an unusual aspect of immigration law, UACs arriving from Mexico or Canada can be quickly returned to their home countries. However, children from other nations are transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where social workers attempt to locate sponsors who will care for them while their immigration cases proceed. Recognizing this opportunity for their children to gain entry into the United States, many parents began sending their children alone, often anticipating that a relative already residing illegally in the U.S. could serve as their sponsor.
The numbers of UACs soared during the initial months of President Biden’s administration, reaching over 18,000 per month at their peak. These figures have since dramatically decreased following President Trump’s recent border policies. In February, Border Patrol agents recorded just 734 encounters with unaccompanied children at the southern border.