Court blocks state inspections of federal immigration facility in Tacoma
State health and workplace inspections of a federal, privately-run immigration facility in Tacoma won’t happen anytime soon despite numerous complaints of detainee mistreatment.
A federal judge on Friday issued an order that will temporarily block inspections at the Northwest ICE Processing Center. The facility’s operator, Florida-based GEO Group, requested this preliminary injunction as part of a lawsuit filed last year.
The company is challenging a 2023 law meant to bring more state oversight to private detention facilities in Washington. The Tacoma site is the only facility of this kind in the state.
Inspectors from the Washington Department of Health and Labor & Industries were repeatedly denied access to the facility after attempting to enter under House Bill 1470. GEO said it denied them entry at the direction of officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/03/11/court-blocks-state-inspections-of-federal-immigration-facility-in-tacoma/