Washington Governor Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown filed legal action against The GEO Group after state Department of Health inspectors were turned away ten times from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, blocking review of more than 3,500 detainee complaints alleging worm- and metal-contaminated food, foul water, black mold, denied medical care, and staff sexual abuse. A federal judge ordered GEO to admit inspectors in July 2026, and a federal jury separately found GEO violated Washington's minimum-wage law, ordering $17.3 million in payments to more than 10,000 formerly detained workers who were paid as little as $1 per day. An ICE spokesperson disputed the complaints, saying the facility maintains high standards of care and that the state failed to follow proper inspection procedures.