Reveal, the news site of the Center for Investigative Reporting, has an exposé up about an illegal detention center for migrant children. The facility is in Phoenix, Arizona and until recently was a vacant office building.
The building is not suitable for detention of adults, much less children. It has no kitchen facilities, few toilets, and is not licensed by the state for any type of childcare. Operated by defense contractor MVM Inc., the building’s lease specifically prohibits cooking or sleeping and says that it must be used only for “general office purposes.”
It appears that MVM is both breaking state law and violating its lease in its operations.
MVM denies that it is holding children there overnight, much less longer term, but even if the kids are there just for a few hours at a time, state law requires that the facility be licensed accordingly and that it have a slew of requisite amenities and inspections such as licensed childcare staff, outdoor recreation areas, smoke and fire alarms, kitchen facilities, and more.
When Reveal tried to get answers from MVM and ICE, they got stonewalling:
The MVM spokesperson would not answer questions about whether the Phoenix office building should be licensed as a child care center. The spokesperson also would not say how many other facilities like it the company operates nationwide. Elzea, the ICE spokeswoman, also would not estimate how many temporary detention facilities for children operate nationwide under agency contracts with MVM or other companies.
The situation was first noted by neighbors, who saw kids being escorted by adults into the building and heard them speaking Spanish. The adults evaded questions by the neighbors and kept outside activities covert, using their vehicles to block the neighbors from taking video. Police were summoned and eventually told the neighbors that ICE was using MVM and the building as a waiting area before the children would be transported the same day to other parts of the country.
Neighbors have seen regular deliveries of water, food, and other supplies to the building. A photo by Reveal through one of the windows shows baby shampoo, an inflatable mattress, and other evidence that children are not merely passing through for a couple of hours.
One worker, questioned by neighbors, said that there was yet another similar facility somewhere in Phoenix, which may have been the destination of some of the kids when they were transported again away from the MVM building. The worker indicated that they would be returning to the MVM building in the future.