Southwest Key, the “non-profit” that has won lucrative federal contracts to detain migrant children, will conduct a “comprehensive internal review” following a blockbuster New York Times investigation alleging shady business practices, including massive, seven-figure salaries for the company’s top executives. “The charity has also stockpiled more than $61 million in cash,” the report noted.
Child detention has been a financial boon for profiteers like Southwest Key, which received $626 million in federal grants this year alone, according to the New York Times. But with all those millions to devote to children’s safety, numerous Southwest Key employees have been arrested and charged with child molestation. The “non-profit” has also been forced to give up licenses for two of its Arizona facilities after failing to show proof of background checks for employees.
“American citizens are funding this operation,” U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley said when he tried to visit a converted Walmart in Texas this past June (Southwest Key employees called the cops on him), “so every American citizen has a stake in how these children are being treated and how this policy is being enacted.” It’s a crisis that continues—138 days past a federal judge’s reunification deadline, over 170 children kidnapped from families at the southern border continue to remain in U.S. custody.
Eight of these children are “not ‘eligible’ to reunite,” with a court filing stating that for four of those parents, the “Steering Committee has advised that resolution will be delayed.” This could mean anything, but considering those parents were already deported, it most likely means the government has no idea where those parents currently are. Permanent separation, in other words.
Yet, the administration still has the gall to ask for more money—$190 million, according to Congress member Rosa DeLauro—to keep detaining kids. “Over my dead body will we provide another nickel for these folks to do what they’re doing,” she said. Rather than keep lining the pockets of Southwest Key fat cats (also, an internal investigation just doesn’t cut it—House Democrats, get on this next year), funding should instead be diverted to counseling for the kids who have been traumatized by this administration.
Today, Tuesday, Dec. 11, marks 138 days since a federal judge’s reunification deadline. Family separation remains a crisis.