A longtime ICE contractor working under the Trump administration is accused of confining a mother and her U.S. citizen baby in an airport hotel room for five days — to make a profit.
Valentina Galvis’ disturbing claims were revealed in a new lawsuit, alleging MVM Inc. and hotel giant Sonesta worked together to turn a hotel room into a detention cell, according to a report in The Intercept.
“Even now, when I go out, I get very nervous, and I feel terror,” Galvis said in an affidavit.
ICE arrested the Colombian asylum-seeker and her 7-month-old son at a Chicago immigration court in June 2025. Galvis described being locked in a room near O’Hare International Airport without outside contact or knowing when they would be released.
The complaint alleges her baby received inadequate food and suffered disrupted sleep and a worsening skin condition. Stress also reduced Galvis’ breast milk supply.
Her attorney, William G. McLean III, described the confinement as “five terrifying days” that “permanently traumatized” his clients.
“Galvis said she was sometimes told she would be taken to a Texas detention center and, on one occasion, that she would be deported to Colombia,” according to the report. “She was released by MVM after a federal judge ordered that Galvis and her baby couldn’t be removed from Illinois.”
The case highlights a lesser-known practice in immigration enforcement as contractors use hotels to hold families while scrutiny focuses largely on detention centers, The Intercept noted Thursday.
“The corporate defendants in this case unlawfully imprisoned and permanently traumatized my clients,” McLean said.
Meanwhile, Galvis continues to suffer the repercussions.
“I isolate myself to avoid anything that reminds me of what happened,” she said. “I stay home and I do not go outside unless I really need to.”
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