Texas migrant charity boss steps down amid questions over finances
Source: The Guardian and agencies
Texas migrant charity boss steps down amid questions over finances
Juan Sanchez, who built a business empire that has boomed on the back of a hardline government policy, will retire
Guardian staff and agencies
Mon 11 Mar 2019 21.01 GMT
A non-profit that detains thousands of migrant children on behalf of the Trump administration as the government continues its crackdown on immigration into the US, especially across the US-Mexico border, said on Monday its founder and chief executive is stepping down.
Southwest Key Programs announced on Monday that Juan Sanchez, who built a business empire that has boomed on the back of a hardline government policy, will retire. The company issued a short statement thanking him, without going into details about the exact circumstances leading up his decision to depart.
The Austin, Texas-based non-profit operates facilities at and near the US-Mexico border, collecting hundreds of millions of dollars annually through the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Southwest Key has come under fire as the Trump administration detained more immigrants and conducted large-scale separations of families in the last 18 months. Critics have accused Sanchez of facilitating the detention of thousands of children and questioned the salaries Southwest Key paid him and his family.
Federal prosecutors have been examining Southwest Keys finances, according to reports in the New York Times, amid questions about whether the company misappropriated government funds.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/11/texas-organization-detains-migrant-children-ceo-steps-down