PHOENIX - The nonprofit that runs the huge shelter for migrant children in McAllen, Texas, as well as several in Arizona, has been given more than $1 billion in federal money since 2002, according to federal government data.
12 News totaled up every contract and subcontract awarded to Southwest Key, the nonprofit based in Texas, and found the group has been awarded 1.36 billion over the last 15 years.
That data shows the majority of that money comes from the Department of Health and Human Services' Unaccompanied Alien Children program.
Southwest Key also runs at least five facilities in Arizona. It has locations in Phoenix, Glendale, Mesa, Youngtown and Tucson.
Southwest Key is responsible for housing, educating and feeding those children while they're in federal custody.
The facilities look like schools, except for the guards and large wrought-iron fences. According to the HHS website description, the children are not allowed to leave the grounds of the facility at all.
In contrast to the former Walmart in Texas being used to house children separated from their parents, these schools are more permanent and mostly house children who came across the border by themselves.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for a tour of these facilities.
See the year by year breakdown of Southwest Key's federal awards: