ICE has relaxed operating standards for migrant detention centers, removing requirements for contractors to comply with state/local laws and pay detainees $1/day. This follows a request from The Geo Group, a major contractor with ties to former Trump officials, amid reports of record deaths and substandard conditions.
Protests have intensified at Newark's Delaney Hall Detention Facility over alleged inhumane conditions, with activists reporting rotten food and medical neglect. DHS and GEO Group deny claims, calling them politically motivated, while detainees sue over poor conditions nationwide.
ICE's new acting director, a former GEO Group executive, began his role this week. GEO Group, a prison contractor, has benefited financially from increased immigrant detentions under the Trump administration.
Washington state filed federal court action Tuesday to compel The GEO Group to allow state health inspectors into its Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. The detention center, holding up to 1,600 immigrants, has received 3,500 complaints from detainees including reports of foreign objects in food and foul-tasting water. State inspectors have been denied entry all 10 times since a 2023 state law authorized health and safety inspections at private detention facilities.
