Sonesta & MVM Inc. Sued: Profiting from Secret ICE Lockups

Will inflict pain for cash

• Chicago mother has sued ICE contractors that jailed her and her baby in a hotel room
• The lawsuit alleges MVM Inc. and Sonesta detained the family for profit.
• The suit accused both the ICE contractor and the hotel of detaining Galvis and her child for profit, and alleged the companies engaged in a civil conspiracy by working together to use the hotel room as a detention cell.
• “MVM, a federal contractor, physically seized, transported, and confined Ms. Galvis and her infant son,” the suit claimed. “Sonesta knowingly provided and maintained the hotel room used as a makeshift detention cell, profiting from the arrangement while a mother and her infant were locked inside.” - Injustice Watch and The Intercept

Follow the money & pain

$1.3 billion in ICE contracts

ICE contracts with MVM to transport immigrant children and families; the contractor sometimes places them in hotel rooms across the U.S. Since fiscal year 2020, MVM has received more than $1.3 billion in ICE contracts, much of it for transporting families. 

William G. McLean III, who represents Galvis and her baby, underscored the companies’ role in their confinement. “The corporate defendants in this case unlawfully imprisoned and permanently traumatized my clients,” he said, “over five terrifying days after the Department of Homeland Security illegally arrested them.” - Injustice Watch and The Intercept

MVM Inc. Ex-CIA Contractor Makes Millions Flying Immigrant Kids to Shelters

• “It’s horrible, but not surprising, that military contractors which have profited from the deaths of innocent civilians around the world would be hired to transport little children from their parents,” said Wells Dixon, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. “It’s further evidence that President Trump thinks he’s at war with immigrant families fleeing persecution, including babies. Someone has to pitch in to do his dirty work when ICE and DHS are overwhelmed with crying children.”
• Vince Warren, the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, accused the company of profiting off pain. “Let’s be clear, private contractors like MVM have only one goal: making money,” Warren said. “They are the only people high-fiving each other as more and more children are separated from their parents.” - Daily Beast

Injustice Watch

Injustice Watch is a Chicago-based nonprofit journalism organization that examines issues of equity and justice in the court system. Their goal is of public service: to listen to and center people affected by institutional injustices and provide our community with the perspectives, information, and resources needed to hold power to account. 

TakeAway: Hold corporate ICE profiteers accountable for inflicting pain for cash.

Deepak
DemLabs

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