Michael Wriston, Founder of Project Salt Box, a Non-Profit That Monitors ICE Activity,  Has Appeared on Numerous Occasions on Cable Evening News This Year.

These Signs Still are in the Windows of Numerous Businesses in the Portland Area – and With Good Reason.

This Newly Revised Paperback is a Very Disturbing Account of :how the Border Patrol Became the Most Dangerous Police Force in the United States” by a College Professor Reece Jones.  It Can be Ordered from Sherman’s Books, 49 Exhcange Street, in Portland.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a nearly $200 million contract to a Virginia company that has never held a federal contract before.  According to a federal contracting record reviewed by Michael Wriston, founder and editor of Project Salt Box, Savvy Professor LLC was hired on June 17 to help find and check on unaccompanied migrant children released to sponsors nationwide.

It is the first order under a much larger, open-minded agreement the agency set up with Savvy Professor and it requires the company to handle at least 1,000 cases, each one a child it is paid to locate and check on.  The government classifies the work as investigation services.

The figures attached to the deal describe different things.  The $1.6 billion is a ceiling, the most ICE could pay the company if it keeps orderng work up to that limit over the contract’s life.  The agency buys the work in batches and this first order is estimated at nearly $200 million.  Of that, about $4.7 million has been set aside so far, the money the government has formally committed to pay as the work is done.

The order is part of a much larger federal effort, the Unaccompanied Alien Children Safety Verification Initiative, or SVI, that the Department of Homeland Security launched in November and describes as a way to protect children placed with sponsors from abuse and trafficking.  The children, who arrived in the country without a parent or guardian, were placed with sponsors — usually relatives  while their immigration cases proceed.

In March, ICE asked private companies to help check on an estimated 100,000 of these children.  On March 16, ICE modified an $801.8 million contract with MVM, Inc. to include the SVI as part of its core responsibilities.

ICE has since awarded these kinds of open-ended contracts to 18 companies, with ceilings reaching $3.1 billion and a combined potential value above $20 billion.  The adminisration says the checks confirm that a child is safe, in school and not being exploited.

However, an internal ICE document reviewed by the Guardian indicates the OPERATIONS ARE MEANT TO DEPORT THE CHILDREN OR BUILD CRIMINAL CASES AGAINST THEM OR THEIR SPONSORS.

Savvy does business as SIVS LLC and lists its address as a private residence on Old Mill Lane in Spotsylvania, VA.  At the same address, it holds a federal license to sell firearms under the name SIVS Tactical Solutions, according to corporate registration records reviewed by Project Salt Box, a non-profit that monitors ICE activity across the nation.

SIVS LLC’s owner, Todd  Thompson, describes himself as a “medically retired FBI Cyber Tech” whose prior work included “providing technical support to FBI field casework” and “conducting FBI child exploitation investigations…………………..”  According to Project Salt Box’s report dated June 23, 2026, in a Facebook post on April 4, Mr. Thompson wrote that he had “recently started a private investigation firm” and had bid on a government contract “to help track down unaccompanied minors,” and said he would hire case managers and “mission support specialists” willing to travel.

Mr. Thompson, accordng to the June 23, 2026 report issued by Project Salt Box, described the work as well suited to retired law enforcement officers and first responders and wrote that “husband/wife” teams are encouraged to apply.”  Less than two months later, the federal government awarded his firm nearly $200 million.

SIVS advertised at least three positions related to the contract, including a full-time case manager in Spotsylvania and a contract child protection case manager in Orlando, both listed as remote roles.  The postings drew 36 and 27 applicants respectively before applications were closed.

The listings described supervisory, investigative and compliance functions.  Case managers were responsible for real-time quality control during home visits and adddress verifications, including use of standarized checklists, documentation requirements and immediate escalation procedures for suspected abuse, neglect or trafficking concerns.  They would also coordinate directly with law enforcement and Child Protective Services when cases required intervention or protective custody determinations………………………………………………………………………………………..”

This publication, Project Salt Box, is committed to transparency and accountabililty regarding the Deprartment of Homeland Security’s expanding footprint.  We welcome information, documents and data from sources with firsthand knowledge of agency contracts and capabilities.  To better protect your identity, do not contact us from a work-issued device or network.  We seek information of public interest, but we do not want and cannot accept classified information.

For more informatin on the reports on ICE activity issued by Project Salt Box, please visit posts herein dated:   June 10, 2026, 7, 2 and May 30, 2026.