» Protesters criticize Southwest Key CEO,
Nonprofit group’s CEO criticized for housing children separated under Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy
Rather than taking to the Capitol steps, immigration activists on Thursday brought their megaphones and their signs to a quiet, hilly neighborhood in Northwest Austin to criticize Southwest Key CEO Juan Sanchez, whose organization took in many of the immigrant children separated from their parents at the border under President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy.
About 35 people met at Allen Park before marching through Sanchez’s neighborhood, just west of MoPac Boulevard and north of RM 2222, shouting chants such as “Hey Juan Sanchez, what do you say? How many kids did you jail today?” and arriving at his house.
The group Frente de Liberación Inmigrante, or Immigrant Liberation Front, organized the protest to demand that Southwest Key end all contracts with the federal government.
Sanchez did not make an appearance in front of his house, which was guarded Thursday evening by two private security guards.
“He’s in his comfort zone,” said Olivia Huerta of the decision to rally in his neighborhood. “In his office, it’s easier to tune us out. But at his home, when you invade that space, he might start to think, ‘Something’s happening here. Maybe I need to think about this.’”
Huerta said she opposes America’s immigrant detention centers.
“I hope he’ll start to realize that, ‘Maybe my business isn’t such a good idea.’ ... There are other ways to make a living other than profiting off the detention of families,” she said.
Last month, Southwest Key was housing more than half of the 4,204 immigrant children staying at facilities in Texas with contracts with the Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to state data.
A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official told a Senate committee earlier this week that the department had custody of 2,047 migrant children who had been separated from their parents.
The separations were a consequence of the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy, announced in April, which called
for the criminal prosecution of anyone entering the country illegally. Children of border crossers detained since the policy went into effect were taken to facilities like the ones run by Southwest Key because they were not allowed to stay with their parents while they face criminal charges.
While the zero tolerance policy is still in effect, Trump signed an executive order last week that put a stop to family separations.
Judge Dana M. Sabraw of the U.S. District Court in San Diego also issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday stopping the practice of separating children and parents and said families must be reunited within 30 days. Trump administration officials said it would be difficult to comply with that timetable.
Southwest Key manages education programs, including East Austin College Prep, in addition to youth justice and wellness programs and 27 immigrant children shelters in Texas, Arizona and California, most of them near the border.
Sanchez told the American-Statesman last week that Southwest Key considered ending its relationship with the federal government, but ultimately decided to keep its federal contracts. The organization has said it doesn’t support separating children from their parents.
“Ultimately, the feelings of the majority of our staff was we’ve got to take care of these kids because our concern was what happens if we’re not around,” Sanchez told the Statesman.
“Who’s going to take care of these kids? Where are they going to go?” he said. “The last thing we wanted them to do was spend any more time in detention, any more time in those cages that they had built for these kids, and we wanted them to be in a place where they’re taken care of, and we communicate with the families and we could reunite them the minute we had the opportunity to do that.”
Protesters argued Thursday that Southwest Key can’t ignore its role in the immigration detention process.
“Juan Sanchez is participating in this,” protester Ken Zarifis said. “He needs to be called out and held accountable.”
Zarifis is the president of the Education Austin union, but he said he was participating in the protest in his individual capacity.
The protesters left the street in front of Sanchez’s house just before 8 p.m., chanting, “We’ll be back.”
Neighbor Jim Hoover, who’s known Sanchez for years, said some neighbors were troubled after hearing that the protest would be held in their neighborhood.
“I think this is grossly misguided,” Hoover said of the protest. “I’ve known Dr. Juan Sanchez for a long time, and he’s one of the finest people I know.”
Hoover suggested that the protesters should meet with Sanchez to better understand how his organization operates. However, Hoover said he understood where the protesters were coming from.
“I can hardly blame them for being emotional about it,” he said. “Hispanic people are being really badly mistreated. We’re horrified by what’s going on with immigration.”