1/ NEW INVESTIGATION: Over the course of three weeks, a major U.S. defense contractor detained dozens of immigrant children inside a vacant Phoenix office building with no kitchen and only a few toilets. revealnews.org/article/defens…
2/ Videos shot by an alarmed neighbor show the children, dressed in sweatsuits, being led into the 3,200-square-foot office building in early June.
3/ We’re not sure if these children were separated from their parents by the zero-tolerance policy. But their young age indicates they could have been.
And this happened while the policy was in effect.
And this happened while the policy was in effect.
4/ Neighbors say they never saw the children taken outside to play. They watched as palettes of water and boxes of food were brought in.
5/ Dozens of kids were removed from the building two weeks ago in vans. That happened June 22, two days after Donald Trump rescinded the family separation policy.
Since then, neighbors say they’ve seen more water coming in.
Since then, neighbors say they’ve seen more water coming in.
6/ Earlier this year, WH Chief of Staff John Kelly promised: “The children will be taken care of – put into foster care or whatever.”
This building is an example of that “whatever.” It's not listed among shelters operating through ORR. Or on AZ's childcare licensing website.
This building is an example of that “whatever.” It's not listed among shelters operating through ORR. Or on AZ's childcare licensing website.
7/ The building was leased in March by MVM Inc., a Virginia-based defense contractor that has received contracts worth up to $248 million to transport immigrant children since 2014, records show.
8/ The lease says the building is not allowed to be used for sleeping or cooking and can only be used for “general business office purposes.”
9/ We asked MVM if the building was intended to house children. They told us it’s “not a shelter or a childcare facility … it’s a temporary holding place.”
10/ Reporter @aurabogado saw indications that children were held in the building for long periods: an inflatable mattress, a box marked “baby shampoo”, a medication schedule and other items. 
11/ One neighbor asked a worker what kind of business the employees were conducting. The business of transportation, they told her.
“Transporting what?” she asked.
“Humans,” the worker replied.
“Transporting what?” she asked.
“Humans,” the worker replied.
12/ The Arizona Health Department told us the address isn’t licensed as a daycare. Such a license would require safeguards including qualified staff, age appropriate toys and outdoor play areas.
This is what the perimeter of the building looks like:
This is what the perimeter of the building looks like:
13/ The MVM spokesperson would not answer most of our questions – including whether the Phoenix office building should be licensed as a childcare center and how many other facilities like it the company operates to detain children nationwide.
14/ The spokesperson could not say how long the children were kept at the office building.
15/ We’re going to keep digging. If you want to learn more about this facility and others like it, consider subscribing to our newsletter. revealnews.org/newsletter.
16/ Also please send tips about family separation, shelters housing immigrant children or other issues related to immigration to our team: border@revealnews.org
