House Democrats introduced a new bill to bolster and broaden the state’s authority to inspect private detention facilities amid recent legal battles over the monitoring of the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) in Tacoma.
Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, D-Mukilteo, the bill’s primary sponsor, said the updates are designed to expand a 2023 bill to include private detention facilities such as the Martin Hall Juvenile Detention Facility in Spokane County. Previous legislation applied only to the Tacoma immigration center, and the company that runs it sued the state claiming discrimination as the only site of its kind in the state.
“The biggest thing is allowing inspections so we can have eyes in there and know what’s happening,” Ortiz-Self said, mentioning that she heard reports of a chicken pox outbreak but cannot know how it’s being handled without Department of Health access. “There’s that lack of transparency that’s paramount in all of this.”
Separately, a judge ruled on Thursday against GEO Group, the company operating the NWIPC, in another lawsuit. The decision from the Ninth Circuit Court found that the company violated state minimum wage laws when it paid detainees $1 per day, and requires GEO Group to pay nearly $20 million in back wages.
DOH and Labor & Industries attempted to inspect the Northwest ICE Processing Center after a bill passed in 2023 regulating private detention centers and codifying “routine, unannounced inspections.” Court records state that the facility administrator for NWIPC denied both agencies entry, and the issue ended up in court. DOH is still in litigation, but L&I gained access under a different statute. The inspection yielded no violations.
Newly introduced House Bill 1232 includes defining abuse and neglect, escalating actions for failed inspections, outlining food and staffing requirements and granting the Department of Health access to inspect at any time.
“There shouldn’t be any fear of letting our agencies in to make sure everything is working the way it’s supposed to if you’re following the law,” Ortiz-Self said. “Our concern has always been that: Why are you so afraid of transparency?”
Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima, who voted against the 2023 bill, said he believes managing NWIPC should be up to the federal government, arguing there are more pressing issues for the state to focus on.
“These bills are less about these private detention facilities than it is about this political hot potato that is ICE and detention of people who are in the country illegally,” he said.
The new bill is currently in committee.
