ICE Hired a Company Accused of Torturing Children to Track Down Immigrant Kids.

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In mid-April 2026, ICE awarded a contract to MVM Inc. to help track down unaccompanied immigrant children who had been released from government custody into American communities. On paper, these are “safety and wellness checks” — agents knock on doors, confirm children are enrolled in school, check for signs of abuse. In practice, an internal ICE document reviewed by The Guardian revealed the actual goal: deport the children or pursue criminal cases against them and the adults sheltering them.

Who Is MVM Inc.?

MVM Inc. is a Virginia-based private security contractor with about 2,500 employees. It was founded by three former Secret Service agents. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2008 that MVM had a secretive contract with the CIA in Iraq, providing armed guards to protect agency staff. MVM ran the immigration detention center at Guantánamo Bay until it was taken over by another company in 2025. It has been a federal immigration contractor for over a decade, hired to escort and transport unaccompanied minors detained by ICE.

Here’s what MVM is also known for:

That’s the company ICE chose. Out of 18 bidders. ICE said the others lacked the “critical ‘boots on the ground’ child welfare personnel and infrastructure needed to physically locate and conduct wellness checks on children.” The company currently being sued for torturing children won the contract to check on children.

“Welfare Checks” That Aren’t Welfare Checks.

The contract stems from the UAC Safety Verification Initiative, which DHS launched in November 2025. DHS says the program was created to protect 450,000 unaccompanied children it claims were “illegally smuggled over the border and placed with unvetted sponsors” under the Biden administration. The program works with state and local law enforcement and has claimed to locate more than 24,400 children through home visits and door knocks.

ICE describes the visits as welfare checks: confirming the child’s location, school enrollment, and overall wellness, including checking for signs of abuse or trafficking. A DHS spokesperson told The Guardian that “MVM contractors have ZERO immigration enforcement authority” and the initiative’s “primary focus is to conduct welfare checks on these children to ensure that they are safe and not being exploited or abused.”

But The Guardian reviewed an internal ICE document from 2025 that told a different story. The document showed ICE runs these “welfare check” operations with the aim of deporting the children or pursuing criminal cases against them — or against the adult sponsors legally sheltering them. The “welfare check” is the door knock. The deportation is the follow-up.

Lukens of the Amica Center called it “backdoor family separation.”

The Lawsuit That Should Have Disqualified Them.

In July 2024, the law firm Hausfeld filed a class action lawsuit against MVM in a California federal court. The named plaintiffs — a father and son using the aliases “Padre” and “Junior” — are Guatemalan asylum seekers who were separated in 2017, “with the substantial assistance of MVM.” They were not reunited for nearly six years.

The lawsuit alleges that MVM employees “physically took thousands of children away from their parents” and transported them “using unmarked vehicles, commercial airlines, and makeshift detention centers.” The claims include torture, enforced disappearance, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under the Alien Tort Statute, as well as child abduction under California law.

In March 2025, U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw — a George W. Bush appointee — denied MVM’s motion to dismiss most of the case. The judge rejected MVM’s claim of government immunity, noting the company didn’t even submit a copy of its contract with ICE. He wrote: “Defendant fails to cite any authority to support its argument that conduct performed pursuant to a government contract renders that conduct exempt from claims of torture.”

The case is moving forward. MVM is heading toward discovery. And ICE gave them a new contract anyway.

What This Is.

Strip away the bureaucratic language and what you have is this: the U.S. government hired a private military-style contractor with a documented history of brutalizing immigrant children to knock on doors and find more children. The stated purpose is protection. The documented purpose is removal. The company doing the knocking is currently being sued for the last time it was given access to these kids.

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL), who is of Guatemalan descent, wrote on X: “DHS continues to be a threat to our collective safety. It is beyond reckless to hire a company of dangerous bounty hunters, with a concerning track record of abuse, to ‘track’ immigrant children.”

Neha Desai, managing director of Children’s Human Rights & Dignity at the National Center for Youth Law, told The Guardian: “We have seen MVM harm children in federal immigration custody in egregious ways for many years now.”

DHS insists: “Accusations that ICE is ‘targeting’ and arresting children are FALSE and an attempt to demonize law enforcement.” Tell that to the soldiers’ wives who were detained at their own immigration appointments. Tell that to the families still separated years later.

The contract runs through March 2029. The financial details are classified. MVM has not responded to requests for comment.

Sources.

1. The Guardian (via AmRen reprint): ‘Deplorable’: ICE Hires Firm Accused of ‘Torture’ to Track Down Undocumented Children — May 2, 2026. Original Guardian investigation. Contract document. Internal ICE document shows deportation goal. MVM sued for torture. Ran Guantánamo. 2018 vacant office building. Children in hotels. 18 bidders, MVM selected.
2. inkl: ICE Turns to Private Contractor Accused of Torture to Track Migrant Children — May 4, 2026. UAC Safety Verification Initiative launched November 2025. 450,000 children. 24,400 located. DHS: “ZERO immigration enforcement authority.” Lukens: “backdoor family separation.”
3. RT: ICE hires firm accused of torture to track down immigrant children — May 3, 2026. One-year contract with MVM. MVM sued over separation of two Guatemalan fathers from children in 2017. DHS insists contractor has “zero enforcement authority.” Rep. Ramirez: “dangerous bounty hunters.”
4. Hausfeld: Federal Judge Allows Family Separation Suit Against ICE Contractor to Proceed — March 5, 2025. Judge Sabraw denied MVM’s motion to dismiss. Torture and enforced disappearance claims proceeding. More than 4,500 children separated. Some permanently orphaned. MVM failed to produce its contract with ICE.
5. Courthouse News: Private security firm can’t dodge child separation suit, judge rules — March 3, 2025. Detailed account of March 2025 ruling. MVM was “sole government contractor for ICE” for transporting children. Founded by former Secret Service agents. CIA contract in Iraq. Claims of child abduction, torture, cruel treatment moving forward.
6. HigherGov: Safety and Wellness Checks Modification (JNA-26-0065-U) — April 16, 2026. Actual government contract document. Sole-source modification to existing IDIQ contract. MVM selected for “proven expertise in child welfare and field operations.” Contract runs through March 31, 2029.