MVM, Inc.
| File:MVMIncLogo.png | |
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Kevin Marquez, CEO |
| Services | Security personnel, workforce solutions, training programs |
| Website | www |
MVM, incorporated in California under the name "M V M, Inc.," is headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia, United States. This private security firm offers services including security personnel deployment, staffing solutions, training, translation, and other related support primarily to clients within the United States federal government. Among its contracts is the provision of detention services for minors involved in immigration legal processes.[1][2][3][4]
Establishment
MVM was founded in 1979 by Dario O. Marquez, Jr., a former agent with the United States Secret Service, alongside two other ex-agents.[5] Marquez served as president and CEO from 1984 until 2015. That year, he transferred ownership to his son Kevin Marquez, who had previously held the position of chief operating officer.[6]Template:Fix/category[citation needed]
During the 1980s, MVM secured a contract from the U.S. Department of State to provide Cleared American Guards (CAG) at U.S. embassies worldwide. After the 1991 Haitian coup d'état and the subsequent return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1994, MVM became the first American private firm authorized to protect a foreign head of state within his own country.Template:Fix/category[citation needed]
Following the events of September 11th, MVM was awarded contracts with both the United States Army and the U.S. Justice Department. It continues to fulfill these agreements alongside additional contracts with agencies now under the Department of Homeland Security.
In 2018, MVM secured a classified research contract from the FBI's High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group.[7]
Contracts
MVM maintains several multimillion-dollar agreements with various United States government entities, including the Justice Department, ICE, State Department, United States Marshals Service, the Washington, D.C. Public Schools system, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
One notable contract involves a $162 million agreement with ICE for the transportation of unaccompanied minor migrants. In July 2018, reports revealed that MVM operated a facility in a Phoenix, Arizona office building to temporarily house unaccompanied minors for approximately three weeks. This location was neither zoned for residential use nor licensed as a child care center by the state. ICE stated the purpose was to provide these children "awaiting same-day transport" a more private and comfortable environment than what would be available at public transit hubs.
Further coverage from July 2020 indicated that MVM was responsible for moving unaccompanied migrant children to several Hampton Inn & Suites hotels located in Arizona and along the Texas-Mexico border cities of McAllen, El Paso, and Phoenix. At these hotels, children were typically held before being expelled from the country. Data from April 2020 showed that at least 29 minors were detained at such hotels, with some experiencing multiple stays. This number increased to 80 in May and reached 120 by June 2020.
References
- ↑ "Activists Aim at Defense Contractors Over Child Detention Policy". Bloomberg.com. 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
- ↑ Fernholz, Tim. "US defense contractors profit from child detention—and you might, too". Quartz. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
- ↑ "Job postings offer clues to inner workings of facilities for immigrant children". star-telegram. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
- ↑ The Billion-Dollar Business of Operating Shelters for Migrant Children By Manny Fernandez and Katie Benner, June 21, 2018, The New York Times
- ↑ "VA. Firm to Train Haiti Guards". The Washington Post. 15 October 1994.
- ↑ "Detained for Profit: Spending Surges Under U.S. Immigration Crackdown". Public Citizen. 2019-09-18. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
- ↑ "FBI Signs Interrogation Unit Contract With Firm Accused of Mistreating Separated Migrant Children". Newsweek. Retrieved 20 August 2020.