The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling requiring private contractors to pay detained immigrants working in federal facilities the state’s minimum wage has significant implications.
The court’s decision applies to facilities like the GEO Group-run detention center in Tacoma, Washington, and could extend to other states, including California.
It ensures that immigrants volunteering for tasks such as cleaning, cooking, and waste disposal must be compensated at the state’s minimum wage level—currently $16.28 per hour in Washington.
The case stems from a class-action lawsuit filed by detainees who were paid as little as $1 to $5 per day for their labor. The court upheld a jury’s award of nearly $17.3 million in back pay for seven years of unpaid wages.
This ruling could push ICE and contractors like GEO Group to either raise wages or face the closure of these volunteer programs.
The dissenting opinion by Judge Mark Bennett suggested that the ruling might lead to ICE relocating facilities out of Washington to avoid the higher wage costs.
However, the majority of the court found that state minimum-wage laws are constitutionally valid, even when they increase costs for the federal government, as long as they apply neutrally.
The case raises important questions about labor practices in detention centers and the role of states in regulating conditions within federally contracted facilities.
GEO Group has expressed strong disagreement with the ruling and may pursue further legal avenues, including asking for a rehearing or appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The outcome of this case could have wider repercussions for how detention centers nationwide address detainee labor compensation.