Washington Officials Take Legal Action to Force Health Inspections at Troubled ICE Detention Center

Washington state is escalating its fight against the private prison giant The GEO Group, demanding court intervention to force health inspections at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown filed legal action after the company blocked state Department of Health inspectors ten times, including twice following a court ruling affirming the state’s inspection authority.

This move comes amid a staggering volume of more than 3,500 complaints from detainees describing horrific conditions: medical emergencies ignored, food contaminated with plastic, metal, and worms, unsanitary bathrooms, and denial of clean clothing. One detainee reported being served raw meat that sickened dozens, while others described water so foul that staff bring their own bottled water. Reports also include failure to wash bedding after infectious diseases and refusal to provide prescribed medications, instead handing out only ibuprofen.

The facility’s troubles are not new. Since 2024, two detainees have died at the Tacoma center and six more have attempted suicide. These abuses occur against the backdrop of a 70 percent rise in ICE detentions since the start of President Trump’s second term, with 46 deaths in ICE custody or contracted detention facilities reported last month — the highest in two decades.

Gov. Ferguson, who previously won a $23.2 million judgment against GEO for paying detainees just $1 a day for forced labor, emphasized that the company is “not above the law” and must comply with Washington’s health and safety standards enacted in 2023. Despite initial court blocks on the law, a federal appeals court recently cleared the way for unannounced inspections, yet GEO continues to resist.

Attorney General Brown underscored that the refusal to allow inspections “should trouble all Washingtonians” and that transparency is essential to holding private detention centers accountable for abuses hidden behind closed doors.

This legal battle highlights the ongoing crisis in private immigration detention: a for-profit system that repeatedly fails to meet basic human rights and safety standards while evading oversight. Washington’s push to enforce health inspections is a critical step to expose and end these abuses.