A detainee at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma has gone six months without antibiotics for a confirmed infection, according to U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, who called conditions at the facility "absolutely a human rights violation" after her 11th oversight visit since May 2025.

ICE denies the allegation.

Randall, whose 6th Congressional District covers most of Tacoma, described systemic medical-care failures in an interview with KUOW published Tuesday, Aug. 25.

She said the 1,575-bed facility on the Tacoma Tideflats is failing to provide basic care to people detained there indefinitely.

Specific failures Randall described

The congresswoman named detainee Julián Palacios Obregon, held since December 2024 after seeking asylum at the Sumas port of entry.

Randall said Palacios Obregon told her during her Monday, Aug. 24 visit that he has not received antibiotic treatment for six months despite testing positive for an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection two months ago.

Palacios Obregon has been scheduled for a medical procedure on the same day as his next asylum hearing. A judge ordered the facility to accommodate both needs, but as of Monday neither staff member Randall spoke with knew of a plan.

"Having medical providers available and having folks be able to access health care seem to be two different things, and denying people access to health care when they are in the custody of the U.S. government is absolutely a human rights violation," Randall said.

Beyond that case, Randall described a detainee who requires catheters but receives only six per day, forcing him to wash and reuse them. She said detainees with diabetes are not having their blood sugar monitored regularly.

To access any medical care, detainees must sign up for "sick call" and wake at 5:30 a.m. to present the following day.

An ICE spokesperson told KUOW that any allegation Palacios Obregon has not received proper medical care is false. The spokesperson said an immigration judge ordered him removed last August, but his case was reopened and he remains in custody.

Hunger strike and blocked inspections

The medical-care allegations come days after more than 140 detainees ended a hunger strike around Aug. 20, the 20th such action at the facility in 2026. GEO Group, the private company that operates the center, promised new menus and bigger portions, but as of Aug. 20 those changes had not been implemented, according to The Seattle Times.

Around Aug. 16, Randall and U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) conducted an unannounced visit in response to the strike. They were initially told they could not enter, waited about an hour, and were eventually allowed to tour housing units and the kitchen but were denied access to the medical wing or medical staff, according to The Seattle Times.

Washington state health inspectors also remain blocked from the facility. GEO Group appealed a July 2026 federal court order allowing inspections to the Ninth Circuit, which granted a temporary stay.

The facility has received more than 3,500 complaints about conditions, including contaminated food, unsanitary living conditions and sexual assault, according to KUOW.

ICE's own internal inspection in June found a detainee whose required health assessment came 22 days late, suicide-watch welfare checks running nearly 14 hours apart instead of the required eight, and an allegation that medical staff assaulted a detainee during a seizure, according to Wired.

No-bid sale looms

GEO Group's contract to run the facility expires Oct. 27. The company's CEO, George Zoley, told investors GEO aims to wrap up pricing negotiations on potential facility sales to ICE by late September. ICE purchased a comparable California facility from CoreCivic for nearly $500 million earlier in August, according to KUOW.

Randall said her concern is that a sale would be a no-bid contract meant to enrich Zoley, whom she characterized as an active Trump supporter whose company donated heavily to Trump's reelection campaign. GEO Group reported $705 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2026 alone.

ICE, not GEO Group, is responsible for healthcare at the facility, according to a GEO Group spokesperson.