Health inspections remain paused at ICE detention center in Tacoma

The Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, operated by the GEO Group, remains closed to state health inspectors after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted an administrative stay pausing a U.S. District Court order that would have allowed Washington Department of Health inspectors inside the region's largest immigrant detention center. GEO and the state have been locked in litigation since 2023, when a law signed under then-Gov. Jay Inslee authorized state health inspections of private detention facilities; GEO has repeatedly denied inspectors entry, arguing the state lacks authority to regulate a federal contractor. The state has received more than 3,500 complaints about conditions at the facility, including reports of contaminated food and water, unsanitary living conditions, and sexual assault.