Police & Courts State workplace inspectors will have access to immigration detention center in Tacoma

Washington state will be able to inspect workplace conditions at a federal immigration detention center in Tacoma, under a recently issued court order.

U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle approved a permanent injunction last week barring the facility’s operator, The GEO Group, from denying Washington Department of Labor and Industries inspectors access to the site. Both sides in the case agreed to the injunction along with other terms to resolve the case.

The agency inspected the detention center in July after Settle signed off on a preliminary injunction that mirrors the permanent one. Inspectors did not discover any violations, Matt Ross, an agency spokesman said Tuesday.

While last week’s order ends the dispute between Labor and Industries and GEO – at least for now – the company and Washington state are still sparring with other lawsuits over how much authority the state has to regulate the controversial Northwest ICE Processing Center.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/10/02/state-workplace-inspectors-will-have-access-to-immigration-detention-center-in-tacoma/