ICE's private prison contractor wants police-style immunity. GEO Group, a top private prison contractor for ICE, is claiming immunity from lawsuits alleging forced labor at its detention centers. It's using a controversial legal doctrine best known for shielding cops from police brutality claims. A top private prison company profiting from President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown is claiming immunity from lawsuits alleging forced labor at its detention centers. To do so, the company is using a controversial legal doctrine best known for shielding cops from police brutality claims. The prison contractor, GEO Group, is one of the world's largest prison companies and a longtime Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contractor. The prison firm has been a generous donor to the Trump administration, and its work for ICE has expanded significantly over the last year and a half. The company operates detention facilities for ICE across the country, many of which have long histories of abuse allegations. In 2014, immigrants detained in a GEO Group-run ICE facility in Colorado sued the company for violating state labor and trafficking laws. The detainees alleged that the facility's work program paid only $1 a day, and in some cases, they were forced to clean the facility without pay at all. For more than a decade, GEO Group has avoided a trial in the case, but one is now scheduled for the fall in Colorado federal court. In a recent court filing, as the American Prospect first reported, GEO Group attempted a new legal maneuver to thwart the case, claiming it was entitled to qualified immunity because it was acting at the government's behest. Therefore, the company contended it could not be sued for forced labor. Their argument, explained Michael Scimone, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, was that the private prison company "should be treated the same as a police officer, as a public servant." "What this really allows is for basically an absence of any accountability," Scimone continued. A private company is not subject to the same degree of public accountability as the government, he noted - one reason why it is typically easier to bring a case against a private actor in court. Qualified immunity shields police officers from liability in cases of misconduct or violence, making it difficult to bring lawsuits against cops for civil rights violations - even if they broke the law. It's not the first time GEO Group has tried to circumvent of the lawsuit by claiming it has immunity typically reserved for public officials. Last year, the company appealed a ruling in the same Colorado case to the Supreme Court, asking for "derivative sovereign immunity." This protection extends the federal government's legal shield against private lawsuits to its contractors. The Supreme Court rejected GEO Group's case, ruling in favor of detainees - but Justice Samuel Alito included a note in his concurrence in the case that qualified immunity, which protects individual government officials from lawsuits except in narrow circumstances, might be another avenue that private companies could pursue. Now, as their trial looms, GEO Group has seized on Alito's reference. As the government outsources ever more of its duties to private firms, those vendors are demanding ever more immunity from legal consequences. While the Supreme Court rebuffed one kind of immunity for government contractors last fall, a Sixth Circuit ruling last year held that qualified immunity could extend to a private law firm working with the government, a victory for private companies. GEO Group's bid for qualified immunity appears unlikely to succeed - and is more likely a delay tactic, experts told the Lever. Anya Bidwell, an attorney leading the Institute for Justice Project on Immunity and Accountability, told the Lever the argument was a "long shot." But it's a sign of how hard the private firms that work with ICE are fighting to operate with impunity. "We're keeping a very close eye on this because we are seeing contractors trying to expand it," Bidwell said.

NJ sues Delaney Hall operator after it refuses full access to health inspectors. By Insider NJ | June 2, 2026, 11:08 am | in News AG Davenport, Department of Health File Complaint Against GEO Group After Inspectors Are Blocked From Conducting a Full Inspection of Delaney Hall, in Violation of State Law View Complaint | View Brief Attorney General Jennifer Davenport today filed a lawsuit against The GEO Group, Inc., which operates the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark. The lawsuit requests that the court grant the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) full access to the facility, which is the focus of well-documented concerns about inhumane and unsanitary conditions for detainees. Over Memorial Day weekend, Governor Mikie Sherrill and elected officials went to Delaney Hall after some detainees began a hunger strike to protest their deplorable living conditions. As GEO Group refused to respond to demands by the Governor, elected officials, and protesters for full transparency into conditions at Delaney Hall, DOH began trying to gain access to the taxpayer-funded facility to conduct a full inspection. "If the GEO Group - with a $1 billion government contract - has nothing to hide and the conditions inside Delaney Hall are as safe and as sanitary as this private corporation and the Trump Administration claim, then there is no legitimate reason why my health inspectors are being kept from full access throughout the building," said Governor Sherrill. "The people of New Jersey deserve transparency and accountability, and I will continue using all the power of this office to advocate for the detainees and their families." "GEO Group must allow our state's health inspectors to conduct a full inspection of Delaney Hall. The reports of unsanitary and unsafe conditions inside Delaney Hall are extremely concerning, and GEO Group - like any other business and facility in New Jersey - must follow the law," said Attorney General Davenport. "I will continue working with Governor Sherrill and Commissioner Washington to ensure that people detained inside Delaney Hall are treated with dignity and humanity." "Any facility housing people in New Jersey must meet basic standards under the law to prevent the spread of disease, keep food and water safe, and minimize health risks. That includes Delaney Hall," said Health Commissioner Raynard E. Washington. "The New Jersey Department of Health takes seriously its mission to safeguard the health and well-being of everyone in this state. Health inspections are not political - they are essential public health tools that help ensure no one in New Jersey is housed in dangerous or unsanitary conditions." On Thursday, May 28, 2026, DOH inspectors were allowed inside Delaney Hall for a limited inspection, but they were barred from inspecting crucial areas of the facility, including the medical unit, sleeping areas, and bathing and toileting areas. Following that visit, DOH inspectors have not been granted access to conduct a full inspection despite DOH's repeated requests for access. The lawsuit filed today alleges that GEO Group has violated state law by refusing to allow DOH to conduct a full inspection of Delaney Hall. As part of the lawsuit, the State is also seeking an expedited injunction directing GEO Group to allow DOH inspectors access to inspect the entire facility. Today's Complaint and Order to Show Cause, filed in Superior Court in Essex County, asks the court to order GEO to allow DOH full access to Delaney Hall for the purposes of a complete inspection in accordance with State law. An inspection would allow DOH to verify whether the protocols or practices inside Delaney Hall pose a serious risk of harm to detainees within the facility or to the public outside of it. Any unchecked spread of illness inside Delaney Hall poses a severe risk to detainees. It also poses a risk to employees and contractors working at the facility and to visitors, who can spread illness to the public at large. On May 22, some detainees began a hunger strike to protest conditions at the facility, reportedly including spoiled or rotten food and no access to basic hygiene products such as toilet paper, menstruation products, or toothpaste. On May 23, U.S. Senator Andy Kim and Representative Rob Menendez went inside the facility to speak with detainees. Senator Kim met with a pregnant woman who said she is not receiving full obstetrics and gynecological care, and with a woman who had a miscarriage but received no care and was left to manage the miscarriage on her own. Detainees have also told relatives and advocacy groups that the water tasted metallic and undrinkable; that people were being denied medical care or necessary medications; and that diseases such as the flu or COVID-19 were spreading throughout the facility. In addition, in late May, the Department received a report about a detainee taken to University Hospital with tuberculosis, a highly infectious disease. By statute, the DOH Commissioner is allowed to enter and inspect public and private detention centers as well as to have "full access" to any premises if there is any reason to believe a violation may be occurring. DOH is responsible for protecting the health of the people of New Jersey, including identifying any practices that would allow for the unchecked spread of communicable illnesses, including but not limited to unsafe food preparation or storage, inadequate ventilation, and other unhygienic conditions. GEO Group has thus far continued to refuse entry to Delaney Hall for a full inspection, placing its detainees, its workforce, and the entire New Jersey public at risk. | | ### Article Tags: