TACOMA — A federal judge on July 9, 2026, ordered the private operator of a Tacoma immigration detention center to admit Washington state health inspectors, ruling the company is likely to lose its yearslong legal fight to keep them out.
U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle, a George W. Bush appointee, granted two preliminary injunctions requiring the GEO Group to allow Washington State Department of Health inspectors into the Northwest ICE Processing Center, excluding areas under direct federal control.
The order stems from a 2023 state law, House Bill 1470, that set health and safety standards for private detention facilities and authorized unannounced state inspections. GEO had sued to block enforcement of the law, and Settle initially sided with the company in 2023, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated that ruling last year and sent the case back for reconsideration.
Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown sought the injunction in April after the facility’s operator repeatedly refused to admit health inspectors despite more than 3,500 complaints from detainees about food, medical care and sanitation.
Settle rejected GEO’s argument that federal immigration authorities, not the company, should have been named in the case, writing that a federal contractor “does not” enjoy the same immunity from state law as the government itself.
The order takes effect in 14 days, giving GEO Group time to appeal. The company has not said whether it will do so.