Home/During Title 42, unaccompanied children were held in hotels by contractors (e.g., Hampton Inn) before expulsion attempts

During Title 42, unaccompanied children were held in hotels by contractors (e.g., Hampton Inn) before expulsion attempts

Timeline Eventconfirmed
constitutional-violationprivate-contractorssecret-detentionchild-detention
Media Capture & ControlJudicial CaptureRegulatory CaptureIntelligence Penetration
Actors:Texas Civil Rights Project, MVM Inc., ICE contractors, Detained families
2020-07-01 · McAllen, Texas · 1 min read

Associated Press reporting in July and August 2020, along with litigation by the Texas Civil Rights Project, revealed DHS contractors held migrant children, some as young as 1, in hotels (including Hampton Inns) without standard child‑welfare protections under the Title 42 expulsion policy. Court-appointed monitors documented these practices. Court action subsequently limited the practice, and children were transferred into ORR custody.

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Sources

  1. Flores v. Garland - Ninth Circuit Opinion — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit — (2021-01-29)
  2. Order re Government's Treatment of Minors in Hotels — U.S. District Court, Central District of California — (2020-09-04)
  3. US detained migrant children in hotels, then expelled them — Associated Press — (2020-08-10)
  4. FRONTLINE: Children at the Border - Hotel Detention Investigation — PBS Frontline — (2020-08-20)
  5. Investigation Reveals MVM Inc. Detained Children in Hotels — Texas Tribune/ProPublica — (2020-08-10)
  6. Before Covid-19 Border Expulsions, Children Were Held in Hotels by Contractors — The New York Times — (2020-08-16)