Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown filed a motion for a preliminary injunction April 28 against the GEO Group to allow the Washington State Department of Health to inspect the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) in Tacoma.
Since 2023, state law has required the Department of Health to conduct “routine, unannounced” inspections of private detention facilities like the NWIPC. The GEO Group challenged the law, a part of House Bill 1470, in 2023 by filing for a preliminary injunction. The district court granted the GEO Group’s injunction, but the Ninth Circuit District Court of Appeals vacated the district court’s grant, ruling in favor of the state.
Since the 2023 injunction was vacated, however, the GEO Group has turned away state health inspectors and refused to allow them to conduct inspections at the facility. These rejections violate the state law…