At the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, thousands of complaints have been lodged by immigrant detainees regarding dangerous living conditions: abuse, inedible food, prolonged isolation, and medical neglect.
Despite more than 3,500 complaints being submitted to the Washington State Department of Health, GEO Group, operating the facility under a contract with ICE, has repeatedly refused to admit state inspectors.
Opened in 2004, the facility formerly known as the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) has a stated bed space capacity of 1,575 people – one of the largest immigration prisons in the country. Its population hovered around 800 for a couple years before rising sharply after Trump’s second term began, with immigrant rights groups estimating that 1,400-1,500 people were detained there in March.
Food budgeted at 97 cents per meal
Food, water and air quality account for more than 990 of these complaints. Detainees report finding burned plastic, metal string, rope, wood splinters and even worms in their meals. In one case, raw meat was served to a unit of 54 people. Some were so hungry they ate the food anyways – causing 15 of them to become sick.
Other complaints describe drinking water as “foul” and that air coming from the vents smells like sewage. One detainee told immigrant rights group La Resistencia that food served at the NWIPC contained rat feces.
The evidence of the poor quality of food and water is not limited to detainee complaints. During an unannounced inspection in 2022, the Department of Homeland Security found long-expired food and boxes of meat left open and exposed to the air.
In May 2025, detainees reported stomach pain, bloating, and bloody diarrhea after eating collard greens served at the facility. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department later detected Bacillus cereus, a bacterium associated with food poisoning, in the supply of collard greens.
A former GEO kitchen supervisor testified that the company budgeted only 97 cents per detainee per meal, and admitted that GEO could not provide adequate meals within that budget. In 2024, GEO reported more than $1.6 billion in revenue for its secure service facility operations in the US.
The facility’s problems extend beyond food. More than 650 complaints concern unsanitary living conditions, including black mold in showers, rarely cleaned bathrooms and dirty floors. At one point, approximately 100 people reportedly had access to only 2 working bathrooms.
Detainees also report receiving wet or dirty laundry, underwear previously worn by others, and bedding that had not been changed or cleaned after being used by people infected with COVID-19 and chickenpox.
Medical neglect accounts for more than 900 additional complaints. Detainees report untreated strokes, paralysis, internal bleeding, heart conditions and asthma. In one case, a man returned from a hospital with prescribed medication, but facility staff withheld it and gave him ibuprofen while his condition continued to deteriorate.
The complaints also contain allegations of physical and sexual abuse by officers.
Deaths and prolonged isolation
Reports also include one death by suicide, several suicide attempts, and extreme isolation.
Mergensana Amar, a 40-year-old asylum seeker, committed suicide in November 2018 after nearly 11 months in the NWIPC.
Charles Leo Daniel was found dead in March 2024 after spending over 3 years combined in solitary confinement over 2 separate periods in 2020 and 2023.
University of Washington researchers also obtained 911 records documenting at least 6 suicide attempts at the facility between January 1 and March 18, 2024.
The UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules define any solitary confinement lasting longer than 15 consecutive days as “prolonged solitary confinement,” which is prohibited. UN human rights experts have warned that prolonged solitary confinement may constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment – and can amount to torture. Charles Leo Daniel spent a combined 1,244 days in solitary confinement.
GEO repeatedly blocks state inspections
Despite thousands of complaints and mounting evidence, GEO has kept these conditions hidden from the public – the company has repeatedly blocked attempts by the state to examine conditions inside the facility.
Washington health inspectors were denied entry 10 times, including twice after a federal appeals court affirmed the state’s authority to inspect private detention centers.
Finally, on July 9, 2026, a federal judge intervened, ordering GEO to admit state inspectors into most of the facility, on the basis that complaints had raised “compelling concerns” for the health and safety of detainees.
But federal findings extended beyond health and hygiene concerns, revealing that GEO also relied on detained workers to perform the labor necessary to operate the NWIPC, paying them as little as 1 dollar per day.
A federal jury found that GEO had violated Washington’s minimum-wage law, and the company was ordered to pay $17.3 million to more than 10,000 formerly detained workers.
Organizing to shut down the NWDC
Immigrant rights groups have been organizing to shut down the NWIPC for over a decade. La Resistencia recently joined with Tsuru for Solidarity outside the NWIPC to host a Solidarity Day on August 15, demanding the facility’s closure.
La Resistencia was founded in 2014, after more than 1,200 detainees launched a hunger strike against their confinement and living conditions. Led by undocumented immigrants, La Resistencia has supported hundreds of hunger strikes and protests organized by detainees in the facility – including holding daily vigils in solidarity with a recent hunger strike.
As organizing continues inside and outside the detention center, these groups are calling on the community to join the fight to shut down the NWIPC and end the deportation flights from King County International Airport.
Sofie Villa is a Seattle-based Filipina artist and organizer with the Party for Socialism & Liberation and a social media content creator under the handle @darlingube.
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