Valentina Galvis filed a lawsuit on September 29 against MVM Inc. and several Sonesta-related companies, alleging that she and her infant son were confined for five days in a hotel room near O'Hare International Airport after ICE arrested them at a Chicago immigration court. The suit claims the companies turned the hotel room into a makeshift detention cell, causing harms that included reduced breastmilk production, sleep disturbance for her baby and a worsening skin condition.
Galvis is an asylum-seeker from Colombia whose son is a U.S. citizen, according to The Intercept. The two were arrested by ICE at a Chicago immigration court in June 2025, and they were then held at a Sonesta hotel near the airport, in what Block Club Chicago reports was a stretch of five days with her then seven-month-old son. The lawsuit names Sonesta International Hotels Corporation and affiliated companies that own and operate the hotel as defendants, according to the same Intercept report.
The complaint accuses MVM and Sonesta of engaging in a civil conspiracy by working together to use the hotel room as a detention cell, per the Intercept's account. It seeks more than $50,000 in compensatory damages, along with punitive damages, and demands a jury trial.
Allegations of Harm to Mother and Baby
According to the lawsuit, confinement-induced stress caused Galvis to decrease her breastmilk production while her son suffered sleep disturbance and a worsening skin condition, the Intercept reports. MVM Inc. is described in the filing as a longtime Immigration and Customs Enforcement contractor that confined Galvis and her baby in the hotel room during that period.
The lawsuit does not name the federal government as a defendant, the Intercept notes. Galvis's asylum claim remains pending in immigration court, and the outlet reports she remains at risk of deportation while a final decision is still pending.
A Pattern of Hotel-Based Detention
MVM contracts with ICE to transport immigrant children and families, and the contractor sometimes places them in hotel rooms across the United States, according to Injustice Watch. The outlet reports that since fiscal year 2020, MVM has received more than $1.3 billion in ICE contracts.
The practice echoes earlier episodes documented during the pandemic, when private contractors working for ICE detained migrant children in hotels before sending them back to their home countries, as NPR reported in 2020. NPR reported that migrant children were detained in hotels, including in McAllen and Phoenix. CNN similarly reported that court filings showed more than 25 hotels across Arizona, Texas and Louisiana were being used to detain immigrant children that July.
Officials Defend Detention Standards Amid Broader Scrutiny
At a September 30 press conference, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said detention centers meet and often exceed federal standards, according to the Intercept's reporting. The claim comes as The Marshall Project reports that ICE has detained more than 8,750 children since Donald Trump retook office, with court filings documenting 86 children held in hotels for more than three days during February and March alone.
A federal judge overseeing the Flores Settlement had separately ordered ICE to stop keeping children in hotels, carving out a narrow exception for brief one- to two-night stays while in transit or prior to flights, per the Marshall Project's reporting. A separate case, Smith et al. v. Sonesta International Hotels Corporation, is listed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California under case number 2:2026cv11910, according to court records hosted by Justia.
Earlier Court Fight Over Her Release
Galvis's detention also surfaced in an earlier habeas proceeding.
The gaps in what is publicly known about the new lawsuit remain significant. The evidence does not establish whether the suit has been served, answered or adjudicated, nor does it establish whether MVM or ICE has issued any response to it.
