More than a dozen shelters where the US government sent migrant children have a history of allegations of misconduct and violations of care standards, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The joint investigation by the Texas Tribune news website and The Centre for Investigative Reporting came on the same day that US President Donald Trump reversed a tough policy and ordered an end to separation of migrant children from their parents on the US border.
His backtracking followed domestic and international outrage at the policy.
The new report cited government and other reports for accusations of physical and sexual abuse, and violations of standards for children's safety and care.
Akemi Vargas, 8, cries as she talks about being separated from her father during an immigration family separation protest. Source: AAP
The alleged breaches occurred at privately-run shelters where migrant children receive long-term housing.
Texas state inspectors cited violations including a lack of medical attention to injuries and illness, and mistakes in administering medication, the report says.
More than 70 private entities – mostly religious and non-profit groups – are contracted with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to take care of migrant children, according to the report.
These are children who arrived in the US without parents, or who were separated from parents by immigration authorities.
Since 2014, 13 shelter operators have faced serious complaints, according to the Tribune report, but only two have lost their contracts with the ORR.
The accusations of violations and misconduct dated as far back as two decades – before the ORR contracted with the shelters – and as recently as last month.
Among the offender companies identified was Southwest Key Programs of Texas.
It operates the converted Walmart supermarket, called Casa Padre, which has been featured by much of the US media in the last few days as holding about 1,500 immigrant children under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy.
The report says Texas inspectors found 246 violations at the company's other facilities, including shampoo dispensers filled with hand sanitiser.
A former Walmart Supercenter now being used as a migrant children's shelter is pictured on June 18, 2018 in Brownsville, Texas. Source: Getty Images
In a statement, the company said deficiencies were found in less than 1 percent of the standards for which it is evaluated.
"We take each of the deficiencies seriously by self-reporting to invite external investigations, as well as performing our own internal investigations," the company said.
"When called for, staff have been terminated or retrained as we continue to strive for excellence in the services we provide to the children entrusted to our care."
Another Texas-based company, International Educational Services, was one of the two shelter operators whose ORR contracts were not renewed.
It had been cited with more than 100 deficiencies at nine facilities, including "inappropriate sexual contact between staff and children, harsh punishment and lapses in medical care," the report said.
Psychotropic drugs used on immigrant children, lawsuit claims
The Centre for Investigative Reporting also reports that immigrant children detained in shelters are being forcibly injected with psychotropic drugs which makes them dizzy, listless, obese and even incapacitated.
The claims are part of a lawsuit that alleges that children were told they would not be released unless they took the medication, which they were told was only vitamins.
Sworn statements from the children and their parents were given to attorneys and filed in the US District Court in California in April.
Parents and children say the drugs they were given rendered them unable to walk, afraid of people and made them sleep constantly.
Children interviewed by attorneys said they were made to take up to 18 pills a day.
One of the shelters named in the lawsuit is Shiloh Treatment Centre which is south of Houston, Texas.
Shiloh Treatment Centre is among a list of other shelters that have had serious allegations of misconduct and violations of care standards, according to a report published on Wednesday.
