Company sues over law it says would close Tacoma immigration detention facility this year
The company that owns and operates the immigration detention center on the Tacoma Tideflats has sued the state, arguing a new law that could close the facility later this year is unconstitutional.
The for-profit GEO Group runs the 1,575-bed Northwest Immigration Processing Center, formerly known as the Northwest Detention Center.
The law the state Legislature passed this year prohibits the operation of detention centers and private prisons. The governor signed it in April.
GEO filed its lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, asking the court to find the law unconstitutional, keep it from being enforced, and to find GEO’s contract valid through September 27, 2025.
The state, the lawsuit argues, “... asserts the power to shut down the Federal Government’s only dedicated immigration detention facility in the State, thereby subverting the congressionally funded and approved enforcement of federal immigration law by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the State of Washington.”
It names Gov. Jay Inslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Pierce County Prosecutor Mary Robnett, who GEO argues all have responsibility for enforcing the new law, EHB 1090.
Asked for comment, Ferguson said in a statement Tuesday: “GEO’s lawsuit is part of its scorched earth effort to avoid any accountability from the State of Washington, even though GEO chose to do business here. I supported the legislation phasing out for-profit detention centers. The People’s representatives in the Legislature adopted the law with bipartisan support, and my office will defend it vigorously.”
Ferguson also argued: “GEO has a history of exploiting workers and violating Washington’s Minimum Wage Act.”
He sued GEO in 2017, alleging that the for-profit company was violating the state’s minimum wage law by paying detainees $1 or less a day. That lawsuit awaits trial.
GEO’s lawsuit against the state says ICE and GEO modified their contract for the facility in January, “establishing instead a five-year performance period running from September 28, 2020, through September 27, 2025.”
Prior to that, last year the contract had been extended through Sept. 27, 2021.
“Notably, EHB 1090 excepts from its general prohibition ‘a valid contract with a governmental entity’ — but only one ‘that was in effect prior to January 1, 2021’ and only ‘for the duration of that contract, not to include any extensions or modifications made to, or authorized by, that contract,’” the lawsuit said.
The company argues it would have to close the facility later this year if the court doesn’t act, and that the closest facility would then be in California.
“Absent relief from this Court, EHB 1090 will force GEO to close NWIPC by September 27, 2021, leaving Washington with no dedicated ICE detention facilities and no available beds for these detainees,” GEO argued in a motion for a preliminary injunction. “The nearest location that may have available beds for ICE detainees is the Yuba County Jail, in California, which is 659 miles away and has a total capacity — for county prisoners and ICE detainees alike — of roughly 430 beds. As of 2014, only 220 persons detained in Yuba County Jail could be ICE detainees, and Yuba County has faced pressure to end its contract with ICE.”
The company’s court filings say it could lose about $365 million if the facility closes. That accounts for revenue for the next four years and for the company’s capital investment.
“This transparent attempt by the State to shut down the Federal Government’s detention operations within Washington’s borders is a direct assault on the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution,” the motion for an injunction said. “The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO), as the operator of the only dedicated immigration detention facility in the State, brings this action to vindicate the supremacy of federal law. This Court should declare EHB 1090 unconstitutional and enter a preliminary and permanent injunction restraining Defendants from enforcing it against GEO.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2021 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Company sues over law it says would close Tacoma immigration detention facility this year."
