April 18, 2021 09:31:50 am
Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill on Wednesday that bans for-profit detention centers, including immigration facilities, in the state of Washington.
The only Washington facility impacted by the bill is the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. The Northwest Detention Center is one of the United States’ largest, for-profit immigration jails. The GEO Group operates this facility under a contract with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The bill would shut down the detention center by 2025 because GEO’s contract with ICE expires in 2025. The bill will likely face a legal challenge.
The Northwest Detention Center is a 1,575-bed immigration jail. Fewer than 200 detainees are currently at the jail because of pandemic-related precautions. Supporters of the bill assert that the sharp decrease in immigration detention resulting from the pandemic shows that it is not necessary to detain a high number of immigrants.
Washington state governor OKs bill banning for-profit jails mynorthwest.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mynorthwest.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signs bill banning for-profit jails, including large ICE detention center in Tacoma
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Today 5:26 PM
The Northwest Detention Center is shown, Wednesday, April 15, 2020, in Tacoma, Wash. on the day of a during a car-based protest showing support for detainees inside who were taking part in a hunger strike to protest conditions they say are inadequate to protect detainees from the spread of the coronavirus.AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
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OLYMPIA, Wash. One of the country’s largest for-profit, privately run immigration jails would be shut down by 2025 under a bill signed Wednesday by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
Prohíben el estado de Washington prisiones privadas que recluyen a inmigrantes radiobilingue.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from radiobilingue.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Washington joins several states, including California, Nevada, New York and Illinois, that have passed legislation aiming to reduce, limit or ban private prison companies from operating. But Washington is only the third - following Illinois and California - to include immigration facilities as part of that ban.
“Widespread civil immigration detention is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice that currently exists in our political system,” Matt Adams, legal director at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said in an email. “The enactment of this bill is an important step towards rejecting the privatization and profiteering model of immigration detention centers that has pushed the massive expansion of immigration detention. ”