Suits: Migrant children molested
Parents allege abuse at US foster care facilities
This story is part of an ongoing joint investigation between The Associated Press and the PBS series “FRONTLINE” on the treatment of migrant children, which includes an upcoming film.
SANTA ANA, Calif. – After local Guatemalan officials burned down an environmental activist’s home, he decided to leave his village behind and flee to the United States, hoping he’d be granted asylum and his little boy, whose heart was failing, would receive lifesaving medical care.
But after he crossed the border into Arizona in May 2018, Border Patrol agents tore the man’s 7-year-old son from his arms and sent the father nearly 2,000 miles away to a detention center in Georgia. The boy, went into a U.s.funded foster home in New York.
The foster care programs are aimed at providing migrant children with care while authorities work to connect them with parents, relatives or other sponsors. But instead the boy told a counselor he was repeatedly sexually molested by other boys.
A review of 38 legal claims obtained by The Associated Press – some of which have never been made public – shows taxpayers could be on the hook for more than $200 million in damages from parents who said their children were harmed while in government custody.
The father and son are among dozens of families who are preparing to sue the federal government, including several who say their young children were sexually, physically or emotionally abused in federally funded foster care.
With more than 3,000 migrant children taken from their parents at the border in recent years, many lawsuits are expected, potentially totaling in the billions. Families who spoke to the AP and “FRONTLINE” did so on the condition of anonymity.
“How is it possible that my son was suffering these things?” the father said. “My son is little and couldn’t defend himself.”
The families are represented by grassroots immigration clinics and nonprofit groups, along with some of the country’s most powerful law firms. They’re making claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act as a precursor to filing lawsuits.
“It’s the tip of the iceberg,” said Erik Walsh, an attorney at Arnold & Porter, which has one of the world’s leading pro bono programs.
The firm has so far filed 18 claims on behalf of nine families, totaling $54 million, and Walsh says dozens more are likely to come.
The departments of Justice and Homeland Security – both named in claims – did not respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, Health and Human Services – the agency responsible for the care of migrant children – said it does not respond to pending litigation and that it serves children in a compassionate and organized manner through its Office of Refugee Resettlement.
“The important work happening in each of the facilities and programs in the ORR network around the country – work ORR has done successfully since 2003 – takes an experienced team of competent, hardworking men and women dedicated to the welfare of the children,” HHS spokesman Mark Weber said. “We treat the children in our care with dignity and respect.”
The records released by Congress show the Office of Refugee Resettlement referred at least seven foster care allegations of sexual abuse to the Justice Department in 2017 and 2018.
Three of the four incidents involving physical harm outlined in legal filings occurred at Cayuga Centers in New York, the largest foster care placement for migrant children, housing up to 900 babies and children at a time. The kids are supposed to be placed with Spanishspeaking families who are paid $1,000 per month per child.
In a statement Friday, Cayuga Centers said it takes the safety of children in its care seriously and reports allegations of abuse to the proper local, state and federal authorities.
“If a concern is raised about child safety in a foster home, it is investigated immediately. Our staff are all mandated reporters,” the group said in the statement. “Children are removed from a foster home immediately when an allegation is raised and if necessary, a foster home would be suspended until cleared following a thorough investigation.”
In one Cayuga home, a foster parent found a little girl being forced to touch another child’s private parts and kiss her on the lips, according to a memo submitted as part of a federal lawsuit related to family separation.
The girl was 3 when immigration officials took her from her father in March, after they’d crossed into Texas. As a result of her trauma, the little girl began to regress in foster care, having difficulty eating, drinking and using the toilet, according to her attorney. The girl was sent back to Honduras on Wednesday, a month after her father was deported.
One Guatemalan mother whose 5year-old daughter was placed in Cayuga last year says her little girl still wakes up crying from what she endured at the foster home.
“Now she’s scared each time we go out or when she sees a police car or someone in uniform,” said the mother, who has filed a $6 million claim.
Another 5-year-old Guatemalan girl said a boy grabbed her chest and touched her inappropriately, both in her foster home and during daytime classes at a Safe Haven for Children New York foster program, according to a $3 million injury claim.
A spokesman for Lutheran Social Services of New York, which oversees the Safe Haven for Children New York foster program, declined to comment.
Two claims blame the government for wrongful deaths. One, seeking $20 million, was filed by the wife of a Honduran man who killed himself in a cell after officers pulled his 3-year-old son from his arms.
In another case, a Guatemalan toddler died after a three-week stay in a family detention center. Her mother’s $60 million claim alleges the government failed to give the girl proper medical attention.
“We may never know the extent to which children suffered particular abuses in foster homes,” said Michelle Lapointe, a senior supervising attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center.