In a big win for immigrant detainees, a federal jury found that private prison GEO Group (“GEO”) broke Washington employment law by paying immigrant detainees only a dollar-a-day for labor performed at an ICE detention center in Washington. The work was performed as part of GEO’s work program, which paid detainees a dollar-a-day to clean floors, serve food, cut hair, paint, and wash laundry.
The retrial was held after the first trial ended in a mistrial, with the jury being unable to reach an agreement after deliberating for two days. Although it is anticipated that GEO will appeal the verdict, this win culminates several years of hard-fought litigation, and represents a significant victory for the undocumented community.
The cases are State of Washington v. GEO Group, Case No. 3:17-cv-05806 and Nwauzor et al. v. GEO Group, Case No. 3:17-cv-05769, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
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