Despite court ruling, WA still blocked from inspecting immigrant detention center

Washington state health inspectors have been trying for months to enter the Tacoma immigrant detention center amid longstanding concerns about the conditions there.

A federal appeals court ruling last summer paved the way for them to get in, but the private facility’s operator is still denying access, state officials say.

Officials from the state Department of Health tried to inspect most recently on March 20, according to the agency. The GEO Group, which runs the detention center, turned them away. This was the ninth unsuccessful inspection attempt since 2023.

In this case last month, GEO told state inspectors they needed to file a request with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Seattle to access the Northwest ICE Processing Center, according to the state. The Department of Health submitted this request Friday. It hadn’t heard back, as of Tuesday afternoon.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/despite-court-ruling-wa-still-blocked-from-inspecting-immigrant-detention-center/