The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Southwest Key Programs Inc., the largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children, due to pervasive sexual abuse and harassment, report Paul J. Weber and Valerie Gonzalez of the Associated Press.  

The lawsuit cites more than 100 claims of sexual abuse or harassment since 2015 and provides extensive details of the incidents. "In some cases, Southwest Key employees threatened children to maintain their silence," the lawsuit states. "In harassing these children, these Southwest Key employees exploited the children’s vulnerabilities, language barriers, and distance from family and loved ones." 

The federal government granted Southwest Key Programs Inc. more than $3 billion in contracts between 2015 and 2023, Weber and Gonzalez note.  

As the lawsuit describes disturbing abuse, advocates are calling for improvements in shelters for migrant children and the need for facilities to be subject to further oversight.  

"While I applaud the efforts to right the grievous wrongs these children have experienced, I hope the federal government will also take some responsibility for the role it played," said Leecia Welch, deputy legal director of the non-profit Children’s Rights.  

As of June 17, Health and Human Services reported 6,228 migrant children in all its facilities. Weber and Gonzalez highlight that it has not been confirmed how many of those migrant children are currently under Southwest Key’s care or if the agency continues to assign children to those facilities. 

Welcome to Friday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Clara Villatoro, the Forum’s strategic communications assistant VP, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Dan Gordon, Samantha Siedow and Ally Villarreal. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

CONVENTION — The Republican National Convention wrapped up last night, and immigration was a prominent topic with conspiracy theories, calls for mass deportation, and narratives framing migrants as criminal threats report Jazmine Ulloa, Ken Bensinger and Nick Corasaniti of The New York Times. German Lopez, also from the Times, debunks specious claims about migrant crime. Separately, ABC News and CBS’s Arizona's Family fact-checked some of former President Donald Trump’s claims on immigration in his speech. 

A HELPING HAND — Responding to the call from Pope Francis to assist more refugees and immigrants, the Alameda Deanery created their Welcome the Stranger refugee support committee, writes David Harberger of the Alameda Post. Volunteers who help newcomers over several months assist in finding housing, medical care, jobs and other services. Meanwhile, a sister program, Shelter in Peace, finds willing landlords for those refugees lacking credit scores and facing other hurdles to become a tenant. 
This week in local welcome: 

EDUCATION — Public education has been a constitutional right since 1982, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that excluded undocumented children from public schools. Now, that ruling could be in jeopardy, Tara Sonenshine, Professor of Practice in Public Diplomacy at Tufts University, for The Conversation."Providing an education to immigrants is constitutionally required, economically advantageous and, I believe, morally correct," Sonenshine writes. 

VITAL — Economist Jason Furman speaks on immigration and the U.S. economy in an interview with Olivia Farrar for Harvard Magazine. Furman proposes welcoming more highly skilled immigrants, adopting more legal pathways for undocumented people already here and expanding legal immigration in general as three ways to help stabilize the immigration system and benefit the economy. Separately, Anthony Pawelski of the American Immigration Lawyers Association presents arguments on the vital role immigrant healthcare workers play in the U.S. system.  

Thanks for reading,  

Clara