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.
