State health inspectors will be allowed inside Tacoma's Northwest ICE Processing Center for the first time, after a federal judge ruled that the private company running the facility must stop blocking them.

U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle granted two preliminary injunction orders on July 9, giving GEO Group 14 days to comply. Washington State Department of Health inspectors would have legal authority to enter the facility starting July 23, barring an appeal. The facility holds roughly 1,600 people. Detainees have filed more than 3,500 complaints about conditions including rotten food, black mold in showers, and unsafe drinking water.

GEO Group, one of the nation's largest private prison operators, has turned away state health inspectors 10 times since Washington passed HB 1470 in 2023. That law set basic health and safety standards for private detention facilities and authorized the Department of Health to conduct unannounced inspections.

What the judge ordered

Judge Settle's ruling covers areas of the facility controlled by GEO Group but excludes spaces controlled by ICE, including administrative and medical areas. In granting the preliminary injunction, Judge Settle found that the state is likely to succeed on the merits of its broader case against GEO Group, a required legal threshold for such orders.

Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown announced in April 2026 that the state would seek a federal court order to stop GEO Group from blocking inspections. The Attorney General's Office filed for the injunctions that month. Judge Settle ruled three months later.

"The complaints we're hearing from people held in the facility are alarming," Ferguson said. "GEO Group says they're false — if that's true, they should prove it by letting our health inspectors into the building."

The complaints

Since 2024, two people have died while detained at the facility and six more have attempted suicide, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Detainee complaints describe food that appeared rotten, was served on dirty trays, and contained bugs. In one complaint cited in the AG's news release, a detainee reported that roughly 15 people in a 54-person unit became sick after being served raw meat with visible blood. Another detainee reported that the drinking water "tastes disgusting" and that facility employees bring their own water bottles because they know the tap water is unsafe.

Additional complaints describe bedsheets not washed after someone has been sick, black mold in showers, and a detainee with mental health issues refused clean clothing by a guard after soiling himself.

GEO Group's response

GEO Group argued in court filings that the state "sued the wrong party" because ICE, not GEO Group, made the decision to deny access to inspectors. The company also argued that health concerns do not outweigh the federal government's interest in controlling access to detention areas.

GEO Group did not respond to requests for comment from the Tacoma News Tribune or KING5 on the evening of July 9.

What happens next

GEO Group can file an appeal before the 14-day window closes on July 23. No specific appeal deadline or follow-up hearing date has been announced.

Case updates are available at atg.wa.gov.