“Uncovering Injustice: The Fight for Fair Wages in Detention Centers”
The for-profit prison company GEO Group has seen a significant increase in value under President Donald Trump’s administration, with investors placing big bets on immigration detention. Following Election Day, the company’s stock price doubled, reaching $4 billion in value. Despite this financial success, GEO continues to resist paying detainees more than $1 a day for cleaning facilities where they are forced to live by the government.
At the 1,575-bed detention center in Tacoma, Washington, operated by GEO for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), detainees were previously tasked with preparing meals, doing laundry, and cleaning, jobs that would typically require 85 full-time employees. The state’s minimum wage at the time was $11 an hour, and in 2017, Washington sued GEO to enforce this wage requirement. In October 2021, a federal jury ruled unanimously in favor of the state.
Currently, GEO and Washington are engaged in their third legal battle as the company attempts to overturn the previous decision that favored the state. GEO has brought in contract cleaners at the Tacoma facility while the case is ongoing, preventing detainees from paid work and the opportunity to earn commissary money.
The outcome of this legal dispute has national implications as the number of ICE detainees in private facilities, like those run by GEO and CoreCivic, continues to rise. If private detention centers are required to adhere to state minimum wage laws, the cost of Trump’s immigration crackdown could increase significantly unless these facilities absorb the cost or reduce cleaning services, as detainees in Tacoma have alleged GEO of doing.
GEO argues that the lawsuit challenges the federal government’s authority to establish national laws, citing previous court decisions that the Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets the federal minimum wage, does not apply to detained migrants. However, the issue at hand in the Tacoma case is the state minimum wage.
The legal battle has escalated, with GEO petitioning for a rehearing by the full 9th Circuit after a three-judge panel affirmed the lower courts’ rulings, ordering the company to pay state minimum wage at the Tacoma facility and provide back wages and unjust enrichment payments totaling $23 million. Despite GEO’s ability to cover these costs, the company is concerned about the precedent this case could set for its other facilities across the country.
If GEO is ultimately required to pay state minimum wages nationwide, the company may need to adjust its operations by increasing detainee pay, hiring outside employees, renegotiating contracts with ICE, or cutting costs in other areas. The ongoing legal battle highlights the profit-driven motives of private prisons and the challenges faced by detainees in these facilities.
Conditions at the Tacoma facility have deteriorated as the number of detainees has increased, with reports of delayed meal service and inadequate cleaning. Activist groups like La Resistencia have raised concerns about the worsening conditions and the impact of GEO’s legal battles on detainee well-being. As the legal proceedings continue, the future of immigration detention and the treatment of detainees in private facilities remain uncertain.