Private Prison Operator Defies Court Order, Blocks Health Inspectors from Tacoma ICE Detention Center

A private prison company is thumbing its nose at a federal court order, blocking Washington state health inspectors from entering an immigrant detention center with a documented history of abuse and neglect.

The GEO Group, a Florida-based for-profit detention operator, turned away state health inspectors on March 20 -- the ninth time it has denied access since 2023. The company claims inspectors need permission from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before entering the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, a facility that holds up to 1,575 people awaiting deportation or release.

This stonewalling comes despite a federal appeals court ruling last August that explicitly authorized state oversight of the facility.

A Pattern of Obstruction

"GEO Group is obstructing our efforts to inspect the Northwest ICE Processing Center," Governor Bob Ferguson said in a statement. "The law is clear. We are going to do what it takes to get our health inspectors into that facility."

The Washington Department of Health submitted an access request to ICE's Seattle office on Friday after GEO's latest refusal. As of Tuesday afternoon, the agency had not received a response. ICE did not respond to requests for comment. A GEO spokesperson deferred all questions to ICE.

The legal maneuvering reveals how private detention companies can exploit bureaucratic channels to evade accountability, even after losing in court.

Thousands of Complaints, Zero Oversight

The Tacoma detention center has accumulated more than 3,500 complaints about conditions inside, according to the Department of Health. These complaints detail medical mistreatment, abuse, neglect, contaminated water, and inadequate food.

"I am super frustrated that we know that there's people who are hurting and we haven't been able to help problem-solve what's happening there," Lauren Jenks, the Department of Health's assistant secretary for environmental public health, said after the appeals court ruling. "People in a detention center like this are among the most vulnerable people in Washington, and who's looking out for them?"

The answer, apparently, is no one. GEO has successfully kept state inspectors out for years while the facility operates in the shadows.

A Law GEO Refuses to Follow

The legal fight centers on a 2023 Washington state law that mandates basic standards for detention facilities. The law requires GEO to provide fresh fruits and vegetables, air conditioning and heat, free phone calls, weekly mental health evaluations, and rooms with windows -- provisions that should not be controversial for any facility holding human beings.

GEO sued to block the law. A lower court sided with the company, but a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision last August, clearing the way for state oversight.

Rather than comply, GEO asked the appeals court to rehear the case and pause enforcement while it prepares a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court denied both requests. The ruling formally took effect in early March. GEO has until mid-May to file with the Supreme Court.

This is not GEO's first trip to the nation's highest court. The company is already appealing a $23 million verdict in a lawsuit over its practice of paying detainees as little as $1 per day for janitorial work, laundry, and other labor -- a modern form of indentured servitude.

Trump's Deportation Machine Raises the Stakes

The need for oversight has become more urgent under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Fears of overcrowding at the Tacoma facility are mounting as ICE ramps up arrests and deportations nationwide.

Overcrowding in detention centers has historically led to disease outbreaks, increased violence, and preventable deaths. Without independent inspections, there is no way to know whether the facility can safely handle an influx of detainees -- or whether it is meeting even minimal health and safety standards now.

Legislative Efforts Fail

Washington Democrats introduced several bills this year to hold GEO accountable. One would have imposed fines on the company for blocking health inspectors. Others sought to levy a tax surcharge on GEO or require the company to disclose more information about conditions inside the facility.

None of the proposals became law.

That legislative failure leaves state officials with few options beyond continuing to show up at the facility's gates and document GEO's refusal to comply with the law.

For the people detained inside, that means more months or years in a facility that operates without meaningful oversight, accountability, or transparency. For GEO, it means business as usual -- profiting from human detention while fighting tooth and nail to avoid anyone looking too closely at how it treats the people in its custody.