TACOMA [Jake Goldstein-Street]—The private company that runs a Tacoma ICE detention center must allow state inspectors inside after years of refusing, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
But U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle, a Bush appointee, ruled the Florida-based operator of the Northwest ICE Processing Center, The GEO Group, doesn’t need to admit officials from the 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 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 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.
SOURCE: This article was authored by Jake Goldstein-Street of the Washington State Standard part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
Author: Washington State Standard
