For years, Washington health inspectors and lawmakers have worried about conditions inside the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma and have pushed its owners to let them inside the facility to see firsthand what’s going on when it comes to the treatment and safety of people detained there. Though members of Congress have been allowed inside, as the law allows, state Department of Health inspectors have not.
This, despite thousands of complaints that conditions there are unsafe and unsanitary; and despite 2023 legislation that was signed by former Gov. Jay Inslee requiring inspections by the Department of Health of privately run corrections centers; and despite a federal judge ruling last month to allow for such inspections. Now more than 100 people detained there are on a hunger strike because of conditions inside.
The back and forth with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and the GEO Group, which owns and manages the Tacoma site, needs to stop. Inspections by health officials should be a basic function of government and a reasonable accommodation by a corporation that has nothing to hide.
Democratic state Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, who represents Mukilteo, Lynnwood and Edmonds, was the primary sponsor of House Bill 1470, which set health and safety standards for privately run detention facilities, and allows for regular inspections by the state’s Department of Health.
“If they have nothing to hide, they wouldn’t be fighting us so badly on getting inside and putting another set of eyes in there,” Ortiz-Self said. “The fact that they try to hide and keep everyone out continuously, I think speaks volumes. We as Washingtonians should be enraged.”
U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, D-Wash., was allowed inside the facility, unannounced, on Saturday, along with fellow U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter of Oregon. The two toured and visited with a detainee who is on a hunger strike.
“He’s an individual with severe medical needs that are going unmet,” Randall said. “He’s in good spirits for the circumstance, but circumstances he should not be in.”
The new law allows for the DOH to impose civil penalties on the GEO Group of up to $1,000 for each day it violates the law. That’s a small price for a corporation that bragged of its $705 million revenue in just the first quarter of this year.
“We are very pleased with our first quarter results and improved full year outlook,” George C. Zoley, GEO’s chairman, CEO and founder, said in a news release in May. “Given the intrinsic value of our assets, including 50,000 owned beds at 70 facilities, and our current and expected future growth, we believe that our stock offers a very attractive investment opportunity.”
Considering the broad range of issues and accusations that have plagued the Tacoma facility, including food and water quality, lack of proper hygiene, abuse allegations, medical neglect and several deaths, stronger enforcement is needed. The GEO Group has appealed the federal ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court. A decision is expected this month.
Meanwhile, voters who find it offensive to allow people to live in suspected inhumane conditions while stockholders profit from it should vote their conscience this fall.
