UW Report Exposes Rampant Sexual Abuse at WA ICE Facility Now Operating Under Even Lower Standards

The Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, has long been a site of human rights abuses, but a recent report from the University of Washington Center for Human Rights paints a disturbingly clear picture of systemic neglect and misconduct. According to internal records obtained through Freedom of Information Act litigation, there were at least 172 reported incidents of sexual abuse and assault at the facility between January 2015 and March 2025. Despite ICE’s and GEO Group’s public claims of “zero tolerance” for such abuse, investigations were often cursory, incomplete, or outright dismissive.

The report details how ICE and GEO Group routinely ignored or downplayed evidence in their internal probes. In some cases, strong proof of abuse was labeled “unsubstantiated,” including one where DNA evidence validated a detainee’s claim of repeated sexual assault by another detainee. Another investigation uncovered a sexual relationship between a staff member and a detainee—illegal under federal law—but this was not reported to law enforcement because officials deemed it “not criminal conduct.” At least 54 abuse reports went unreported to police because staff considered them “less than criminal,” including verbal threats and voyeurism, all of which federal guidelines classify as sexual abuse.

Even when abuse was substantiated, ICE often failed to notify law enforcement. One detention officer was fired after a 2024 sexual abuse allegation was confirmed, yet police were never involved. This pattern of ignoring or minimizing abuse points to a “lawless space,” as Angelina Snodgrass Godoy, director of the UW center, bluntly put it.

The timing of this report is especially alarming because ICE recently signed a seven-month “bridge” contract with GEO Group that lowers detention standards at the facility to what researchers call “likely the weakest ever.” This contract explicitly instructs the facility to ignore any state or local laws that impose higher standards than federal rules. That includes blocking state Department of Health inspections, which are currently stalled despite a federal court order demanding access.

The new contract also increases the facility’s bed capacity beyond local zoning limits and includes provisions that could delay emergency medical care. The previous Performance-Based National Detention Standards, though rarely enforced, were considered relatively stringent. Now, detainees face even fewer protections.

This rollback comes amid the Trump administration’s aggressive $45 billion plan to massively expand immigration detention nationwide. The future beyond this “bridge” contract is uncertain, but the UW report lays bare the human cost of ICE’s unchecked power: lives endangered by sexual violence, neglect, and a system that refuses accountability.

As the federal government continues to treat detention centers like lawless zones, the urgent question remains: how many more abuses will be swept under the rug before real oversight and justice prevail? We owe it to the detained individuals—our neighbors, our fellow human beings—to demand better.