Thursday, October 1, 2026
The private company that runs a Tacoma immigrant detention center must allow state inspectors inside after years of refusing, a federal judge ruled on Thursday, July 9.
But U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle ruled the Florida-based operator of the Northwest ICE Processing Center, The GEO Group, doesn’t need to admit officials from the Washington State Department of Health to administrative and medical areas run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Settle’s order takes effect in two weeks, giving GEO Group time to appeal.
The judge ruled the state should be able to enforce its laws at the facility, which holds immigrant detainees before their release back into the United States or deportation.
“The State raises compelling concerns for the health and safety of the detainees held at GEO’s Tacoma facility,” Settle wrote on Thursday. “Although they are detained, their welfare remains within the State’s purview.”
Attorney General Nick Brown called the ruling a “resounding win to protect the people held at the detention center.”
“The state has the right to inspect private detention facilities like the one run by GEO and investigate complaints of unsafe and unsanitary conditions,” he added.
Spokespeople for GEO and ICE didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Inspectors from the Department of Health had been trying for months to examine the conditions of the controversial for-profit facility amid thousands of complaints. But GEO repeatedly denied them entry, despite a federal appeals court upholding a state law seeking to establish more oversight of the detention center.
The judge’s decision comes after the state in late April urged Settle to force the company’s hand.
“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,” Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, said in April. “The GEO Group is not above the law.”
Settle had previously blocked the law in response to a GEO lawsuit, leading to last year’s appeals decision. GEO has until Friday, July 10, to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the court case, though that deadline has been pushed back multiple times. The company has said resolution in the case should wait until the high court weighs in.
GEO has pushed blame for denying entry to ICE officials, saying its contract with the federal agency gives ICE control to decide who gets access. But Settle ruled it’s on GEO to let state inspectors inside.
“The record is clear that GEO has the duty to allow the State access,” wrote Settle, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush.
Settle noted GEO has allowed state Labor and Industries inspectors into the facility to examine working conditions without ICE approval. GEO sought to get Settle to impose sanctions on the state for the “false accusation” that GEO was to blame, not ICE. The judge denied that move.
In court filings, GEO has argued ICE will still have the power to reject state inspection requests even with an order like the one Settle signed Thursday.
The Department of Health has received upward of 3,500 complaints about the detention center, but with no way to investigate them. Many deal with air, water and food 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. Other concerns include assault, medical safety, sanitation and denying detainee access to religious services.
This story has been updated with comment from Attorney General Nick Brown.
Courtesy of Washington State Standard
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GeorgeBurazer
Shame on GEO Group for denying access for so long. What does this detention camp have to hide if the conditions inside are healthy and human? Inspections should begin asap.
Friday, July 10 Report this
chrispc2u
https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/06/25/dying-in-detention/rising-deaths-in-an-expanding-us-immigration-detention-system:
“In the 500 days between President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025 and June 4, 2026, 52 people died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in the United States. The mortality rate of deaths in ICE custody is at its highest level in over a decade and has more than doubled since Trump’s second term began. The rate is nearly four times that of the Biden administration, and more than two and a half times as high as that of the first Trump administration. The current trend-level rate is now even higher than during the Covid-19 pandemic. Urgent action is needed to address this crisis and prevent further deaths.
The second Trump administration launched an aggressive campaign to expand immigration detention, pushing the number of people held to a record high of over 71,000 people in January 2026. The surge in deaths is much worse than what one would expect even considering the much higher number of people in detention. Deaths in ICE custody have increased at a rate disproportionate to the growth in the detained population. January 2025- January 2026 saw an approximately 140 percent increase in the annual mortality rate compared to the prior year.”
Saturday, July 11 Report this
Virge13
It’s clear that laws are constantly being broken at this and other detention facilities around the country. It’s time for citizens to break more laws, bum rush the place and force entry. Thousands of determined citizens are no match for whatever wimpy ICE deplorables are inside. Cruelty has become policy and local citizens need to counteract this.
Saturday, July 11 Report this
HappyOlympian
We live in sad times when prison inspectors denied access.
Saturday, July 11 Report this
Boatyarddog
Absolutely imperative that inspectors be allowed in ANY but especially Privately Run Facilities.
It's time to DROP kick this failing administration of FEAR INTO THE ETERNAL ABYSS. TO Hell with DHS and ICE.
Saturday, July 11 Report this
HappyOlympian
virge13 - add your comments to the list of worst ideas ever - "Hey everyone, commit a federal crime during the Trump Era!"
Saturday, July 11 Report this
Snevets
Let's call them what they are Concentration Camps- innocent human beings being concentrated into a locked structure being treated less than animals while their fellow human beings "guard" them.
The current, unwanted administration in our White House has put another dark stain on our country's history. Beyond shameful.
Saturday, July 11 Report this
Obajasay211
Thank you Snevets. These so-called “detention centers,” like the so-called “internment camps” that imprisoned Japanese Americans during WW II, are, by definition, concentration camps. Few, especially those in the political class and the media, are willing to call them that, because of their association with the Third Reich. But the Trump regime, in its demonic war on immigrants, has borrowed, in both theory and practice, from Nazi Germany. In Trumps own words (you can easily find them), if only the Senate would pass his voter suppression bill, the SAVE Act, Republicans would never lose another election. “Thousand Year Reich” anyone?
Saturday, July 11 Report this
Virge13
Happy Olympian….as if the current administration ISN’T committing federal crimes. Keep hiding behind your happiness and ignore your fellow human beings who are being tortured on a daily basis. Ever heard of the ostrich analogy?
Sunday, July 12 Report this
HappyOlympian
virge13 - do anything near a detention center and risk a severe beating while being arrested for multiple felonies, all without the slightest hope of helping the incarcerated. Again, among worst ideas in human history.
Sunday, July 12 Report this
ViaLocal
we all know that ICE is RAPING AND ABUSING those kids and adults. keeping these kids out of school and giving them trauma for the rest of their lives.
Shame on this country for allowing entrance to these facilities be denied for so long
Monday, July 13 Report this
Virge13
Happy Olympian…there’s power in numbers.
Saturday, July 18 Report this