WA asks judge to force Tacoma immigrant detention center operator to let inspectors in

TACOMA — Washington state health inspectors have tried for months to investigate complaints at the embattled immigrant detention center in Tacoma, to no avail.

Now the state is taking its frustrations to court, asking a federal judge Tuesday to force the hand of the facility’s operator.

It’s the latest development in the yearslong saga to provide state oversight there. Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown, both Democrats, announced their latest legal action in a press conference outside the Northwest ICE Processing Center, alongside religious leaders and community advocates.

“The law is clear, yet the owner of this facility, The GEO Group, has continued to obstruct our efforts to ensure they are following state law,” Ferguson said. “The GEO Group is not above the law.”

Ferguson accused the company of “continued obstruction and brazen disregard for state law.”

A GEO spokesperson deferred comment to ICE. The agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Officials from the state Department of Health have tried to get in to inspect 10 times since 2023. But The GEO Group, which runs the for-profit detention center, has kept turning them away, the state says.

When they tried last month, GEO told state inspectors they needed to file a request with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Seattle to access the Northwest ICE Processing Center, according to the state. ICE has not responded, according to the state.

In that case, the state was attempting to look into complaints about drinking water and the facility denying detainees the ability to attend religious services, according to court filings.

They were again turned away when they attempted to inspect April 20, according to the state.

This is despite the state, so far, winning a legal battle with GEO Group over this issue. Last August, a federal appeals court upheld a 2023 state law seeking to pave the way for state health inspections of the private facility, as part of a broader suite of oversight reforms. A lower court ruling had blocked the law in response to a GEO lawsuit.

In February, GEO asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the case and pause enforcement of the court’s order as it prepares a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court for review. The court denied both of those requests.

The court’s ruling formally took effect early last month. GEO has until mid-June to file with the high court, after receiving an extension. It would then take months for the justices to decide whether to take the case.

The Florida-based GEO Group has argued in recent court filings that any resolution to the case should wait until the Supreme Court can weigh in.

A hearing on the state’s new motion hasn’t been scheduled, but Brown said he hopes it will be “fairly quickly.”

“Now is the time where action is right,” he said. “Washingtonians are entitled to accountability and transparency in private companies that turn detention into profit, and we understand that that urgency is so acute in this moment.”

Brown called it “not just a legal obligation. It is a moral obligation.”

The detention center has faced scrutiny for years. This includes allegations of medical mistreatment, abuse and neglect, and concerns about water quality and food.

The Department of Health said it has received more than 3,500 complaints over the past three years about the detention center, which holds detainees before deportation or release back into the United States. The agency has been receiving concerns for years, with no way to investigate them.

Examining drinking water is a top priority, officials have said. Other issues raised in past complaints to the Department of Health include access to medication, sanitation and concerns that seem to stem from crowding, like the number of beds being put into some rooms.

Of the over 3,500 complaints, roughly 1,000 deal with water, food and air quality. For example, detainees have complained about finding burned plastic, metal string, hair, worms and rope in the food served by GEO, according to the state.

Earlier this year, Democrats in the state Legislature considered fining GEO for not allowing health inspectors inside. The law passed in 2023 allows the state to fine the operator for noncompliance.