“Unaccompanied minors” at south Texas border, Author US Customs and Border Protection (PD as work product of US Dept. of Homeland Security)
Levian Pacheco of Casa Kokopelli – one of eight federally funded private shelters Southwest Key operates in Arizona – has been accused of sexually molesting at least 8 migrant boys between the ages of 15 and 17 at that facility [1].
Fernando Negrete, also employed by Southwest Key, has meanwhile been charged with groping a 14 year old migrant girl [2].
The Arizona Dept. of Health has cited Casa Kokopelli for failure to complete background checks on employees. Yet, Southwest Key has received over $1 billion in funds for its shelters.
Police nationwide have responded to hundreds of calls reporting sex crimes against immigrant children held by the government at shelters.
Tragically, this is not the only situation in which illegal immigrants are vulnerable to exploitation. Fleeing poverty and violence, an estimated 17,000 to 19,000 immigrants are trafficked into the United States each year [3].
Traffickers utilize a combination of fraud, threats, and violence. Victims are promised good jobs and improved lives. Instead, they are lured into prostitution, coerced into the drug trade, or made to work under brutal conditions in agriculture, sweatshops, and domestic service. Repeated rape is not uncommon [4].
This is all the “shelter” illegal immigrants can find. But they have not been abandoned by God. In their grief and trials, He is with them.
Those of us who can empathize with their pain have the opportunity to stand with them, as well. We can pray. We can donate. We can volunteer. We can protest. We can lobby. We can vote.
The only question is will we?
“For You have been a shelter for me,
A strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;
I will trust in the shelter of Your wings” (Ps. 61: 3-4).
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[1] ProPublica, “Worker Charged with Sexually Molesting Eight Children at Immigrant Shelter” by Topher Sanders and Michael Grabell, 8/2/18, https://www.propublica.org/article/worker-charged-with-sexually-molesting-eight-children-at-immigrant-shelter.
[2] Fox 10 News, “Southwest Key employee accused of sexually abusing 14 year old”, 8/1/18, http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/arizona-news/southwest-key-employee-accused-of-sexually-abusing-14-year-old.
[3] Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), “Human Trafficking – Exploitation of Illegal Aliens”, 8/16, https://www.fairus.org/issue/illegal-immigration/human-trafficking-exploitation-illegal-aliens.
[4] UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, “Escaping the bonds of human trafficking: Pamela’s Story”, 7/28/17, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/EscapingBondsOfHumanTrafficking.aspx.
FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: https://alawyersprayers.com
ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse 
Good morning Anna, I hope you have a blessed Sunday
And you, Wally. 🙂
Reblogged this on lovehappinessandpeace and commented:
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One of the latest ‘happenings’ in India is the case more than 30 Children, All Girls, All Minors, some Handicapped, who were Drugged, Tortured, Molested, Raped, Gangraped, Multiple times, …and they were All living in a Government ‘Shelter,’ and all these Heinous crimes committed by the Officials.
https://www.firstpost.com/india/muzaffarpur-shelter-home-rape-case-arms-licences-of-main-accused-brajesh-thakur-to-be-suspended-ngo-blacklisted-4892591.html
…As You say, Anna, the Good Lord IS with them. God have mercy on us all. Regards.
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This should make us all weep.
Love,
Anna
Amen, my Dear Anna. And Love to You, too, and Yours.
It’s a double whammy for the immigrant minors fleeing from the monsters in their homelands to the monsters in the foreign lands. What a world we live in. We will do our bit. Thank you, Anna❤️
I think this is the challenge of our time, Gbolabo. I am deeply grateful that it matters to you. ❤
Great post Anna.. It is heartbreaking that immigrants flee their country in fear of drug lords and corrupt officials.. Men’s hearts being set toward evil continually grieves God.. and His children..
Are there any that warn them of the dangers they face if they cross the border illegally?
Desperate people do desperate things.
True Anna, I guess when both sides of the coin look bleak you take your chances..
I’ve said and asked this before, where in the Bible does it say to treat those who need us with contempt? Because I don’t remember reading those verses. These idiots wouldn’t recognize Jesus if he arrived on their front porch. And I’m willing to bet my place in Heaven that they’d chase him away. Hungary is keeping up very well in that respect, as there were reports of them starving migrants in the transit zone for eight days. People’s responses? “We need to feed our own first,” and the old tried and tested, “Well, who told them to come!” All this while one third of the country is living abroad, because the average wage, which is considered to be good, is around the 400USD mark.
“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!‘” (Matt. 7: 21-23).
That’s the Bible quote I was looking for!
All this is horrifying actually … many such incidents are coming up in India 😦
Bringing the incidents out into the open is a good start. Awareness and education are vital. It is important to remember that victims are not to blame.
True… but if the victim is a girl… our usual statements are bias against her… like a girl A has been raped so her virtue is gone… How?? If A was raped how come her respect is gone,,, it is the coward egoist male who forcefully raped her, his virtue is gone because he wanted to do that without her consent, she never accepted it, though that is another fact that because of less physical strength she could not stop it somehow, but even in the law INTENTION matters even before ACT
When a victim — whether of rape or abuse — is further victimized by society, the shame is society’s. If our girls are not viewed as of equal value w/ our boys, if their virginity is worth more than their integrity and they can be deprived of their “purity” by force, the shame is society’s.
As a general rule, rape shield laws in the United States prevent an alleged rapist from introducing evidence of a victim’s sexual history at trial. See, https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/in-a-rape-case-can-a-defendant-bring-his-accusers-sex. But attitudes had to be changed before the law could be. That was a long, uphill battle.
Christ said, ” ‘Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man‘ ” (Matt. 15: 11). The same applies to a woman.
True!!