MVM, Inc.

MVM is a company headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia, United States. It is a private security contractor that provides security contractors, staffing, training, translation and related services to U.S. Government clients including being a contractor for detaining children who are subject to immigration proceedings.[1][2][3][4]

MVM, Inc.
TypePrivate company
Founded1979
Headquarters
Ashburn, Virginia
,
United States
Key people
Kevin Marquez
CEO
ServicesSecurity contractors, staffing, training
Websitewww.mvminc.com

Foundation

Dario O. Marquez, Jr., a former United States Secret Service agent and two other former agents co-founded MVM in 1979.[5] From 1984 through 2015 Marquez was the company's President and CEO. In 2015 Marquez sold his interest in MVM to his son, Kevin Marquez, formerly the company's Chief Operating Officer.

History

In the 1980s, MVM was awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of State to supply Cleared American Guards (CAG) to U.S. embassies throughout the world. Following the 1991 Haitian coup d'état and subsequent reinstatement of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1994, MVM became the first private American firm to protect a foreign head of state in his own homeland.

Following the September 11th attacks, MVM received contracts from the United States Army and the U.S. Justice Department. MVM continues work on these contracts as well as contracts with agencies incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security.

In 2018 MVM won a contract from the FBI to conduct classified research for its High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group.[6]

Contracts

MVM currently holds multiple multimillion-dollar contracts with multiple US government agencies, including the Justice Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), State Department, United States Marshals Service, the Washington, D.C. Public Schools system, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[7]

Among these is a $162 million contract with ICE to transport unaccompanied minor migrants.[8] In July 2018, it was reported that MVM used a Phoenix, Arizona office building to provide unaccompanied minors shelter during the previous three weeks despite not being zoned for human occupancy or having a state license to serve as a child care facility. According to ICE, it was for those "awaiting same-day transport with a more comfortable and private atmosphere than they might otherwise have at a public transportation hub".[9] In July 2020, it was reported that MVM was taking unaccompanied migrant children to three Hampton Inn & Suites hotels in Arizona and at the Texas-Mexico border (McAllen, El Paso and Phoenix), where they were typically detained and then expelled from the United States. [10] In April, at least 29 children were detained at the hotels, some with multiple stays. In May, 80 children were detained. In June, 120 were detained.[11]

References
  1. "Activists Aim at Defense Contractors Over Child Detention Policy". Bloomberg.com. 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
  2. Fernholz, Tim. "US defense contractors profit from child detention—and you might, too". Quartz. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  3. "Job postings offer clues to inner workings of facilities for immigrant children". star-telegram. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  4. The Billion-Dollar Business of Operating Shelters for Migrant Children By Manny Fernandez and Katie Benner, June 21, 2018, The New York Times
  5. "VA. Firm to Train Haiti Guards". The Washington Post. 15 October 1994.
  6. "FBI Signs Interrogation Unit Contract With Firm Accused of Mistreating Separated Migrant Children". Newsweek. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  7. Washington Technology: The U.S. Marshals Service awarded MVM, a privately held McLean, Va., security staffing company a five-year contract worth $125 million.
  8. Rawnsley, Adam; Ackerman, Spencer (2018-06-21). "Ex-CIA Contractor Makes Millions Flying Immigrant Kids to Shelters". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  9. Bogado, Aura; Branstetter, Ziva; Swales, Vanessa (July 6, 2018). "Defense contractor detained migrant kids in vacant Phoenix office building". Reveal. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  10. "AP Exclusive: Migrant kids held in US hotels, then expelled". AP NEWS. 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  11. "Her Rapist Threatened to Make Her "Disappear." Instead of Asylum, ICE Put Her in a Hotel and Sent Her Back". propublica. 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
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