A federal judge, whose earlier ruling in favor of GEO Group was vacated by the Ninth Circuit, concluded that state health and safety requirements do not discriminate against the federal contractor.
(CN) – A federal judge on Thursday ordered private prison company GEO Group to admit Washington Department of Health inspectors to the Tacoma detention center it operates under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Senior US District Judge Benjamin Settle CLUE Washington’s request for a preliminary injunction barring GEO Group from denying state inspectors access to ICE’s Northwest Processing Center, where ICE detains individuals awaiting immigration proceedings.
The judge, a George W. Bush appointee, stayed his order for two weeks to give GEO Group a chance to appeal. The order does not apply to administrative and medical areas of the facility controlled by ICE.
Settle rejected GEO’s argument that ICE is a necessary and necessary party in the case, which GEO filed three years ago in response to a state law requiring basic health and safety standards in private detention facilities and authorizing state health inspectors to inspect them.
“If ICE were the real party in interest, it would have been a plaintiff and had every opportunity to appear and defend the counterclaim,” Settle wrote, referring to Washington’s counterclaim seeking an order requiring GEO to allow inspectors into the Tacoma facility.
“GEO does not assert or cite any authority for the proposition that a federal contractor enjoys immunity from state law to the same extent as the federal government,” the judge wrote. “GEO can’t, because a federal contractor doesn’t.”
GEO also argued that the US Supreme Court’s 1940 decision in Yearsley v WA Ross Construction Co . protects federal contractors from liability for conduct the federal government has ordered them to perform, such as refusing state health inspectors as directed by ICE. But Settle said the protection only applies to lawful conduct.
“For the purpose of Yearsleydefense, the key question is whether ICE legally authorized GEO to deny state inspectors access to the facility,” Settle said. “The court concludes that it did not.”
In its 2023 counterclaim, Washington says it received thousands of complaints from inmates at GEO’s Tacoma facility over the previous three years. Complaints range from inadequate medical care and substandard food to unsanitary conditions and assaults by staff members.
Two years ago, Settle granted GEO’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking parts of the law, finding it illegally segregated the Tacoma detention center because it is the only private detention facility in the state.
Ninth Circuit released that decision last year and sent the case back to a federal judge to reconsider whether the statute is discriminatory.
In Thursday’s decision, the Settlement reversed course, concluding the health and safety requirements governing the GEO facility are not discriminatory because similar requirements apply to residential treatment facilities and private involuntary commitment centers.
Tacoma processing center in one of the largest ICE detention facilities in the country. Most of the people held there are civil immigration detainees awaiting administrative proceedings. Some do not have legal status in the United States, while others are lawful permanent residents, including some with work authorization.
In 2023, Washington lawmakers passed House Bill 1470, directing state agencies to regulate private detention facilities in the same way as state prisons. The law requires standards including proper nutrition, basic hygiene and a safe environment.
Later that year, GEO sued former Washington Governor Jay Inslee and then-Attorney General Bob Ferguson, claiming the law violated the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution and unlawfully discriminated against the company.
Ferguson, now governor of Washington state, said the ruling vindicates the law.
“Once again, a judge has told GEO Group that Washington State has the right to ensure the health and welfare of people detained within our borders — period,” Ferguson said in a statement. “GEO Group needs to stop fighting a losing court battle and follow the law. The complaints we are hearing from people held at the facility are alarming. GEO Group says they are false – if this is true, they need to prove it by letting our health inspectors into the building.”
Current Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement “Everyone deserves basic health and safety, and this is a resounding victory to protect people held in 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.”
Attorneys for GEO Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
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