At the urging of one of the largest and most notorious contractors running detention centers used to detain immigrants who have been taken into custody by ICE agents, the agency posted new rules that will make it easier for contractors to avoid lawsuits and be held accountable under state and local laws. According to Washington Post reporting, Geo Group — which operates more than 20 ICE detention centers and faces lawsuits in three states for allegedly violating minimum-wage laws by paying immigrant detainees $1 a day for work — privately lobbied ICE to revise federal detention standards in its favor. The Post’s Douglas MacMillan wrote that the company’s requests were very specific. Geo asked ICE to remove language requiring contractors to follow state and local laws governing detainee treatment. The company also demanded that ICE insert language specifying that detainees are not employees of detention facilities, with ICE complying. The new national detention standards, posted to the agency’s website late Monday, incorporate Geo’s requested language. The document now states that detainees are not employees “and are not entitled to wages or benefits under applicable wage laws or labor regulations.” The revised standards no longer require detainees to be paid at least $1 per day, and no longer include references to contractors having to comply with state or local laws—effectively gutting protections designed to ensure basic labor standards in detention facilities. The report notes that two of the Trump administration’s top immigration officials—border czar Tom Homan and ICE acting director David Venturella—previously worked for Geo Group, which, in turn, prompted Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to ask in a letter last month “whether ICE enforcement priorities are being driven by the financial interests of politically connected detention contractors.”
“Geo Group and [fellow detention contractor] CoreCivic each donated $500,000 to Donald Trump’s presidential inaugural fund in December 2024, election spending data shows. A Geo Group subsidiary, Geo Reentry Services, has contributed $2 million to MAGA Inc., a Trump-aligned super-PAC, since October 2025, the records show,” according to the Post report. DHS defended the changes through a statement claiming ICE “consulted with a variety of stakeholders, including facility operators” when revising standards. But the agency conspicuously avoided mentioning whether immigration advocates, detainee rights groups, or labor organizations were similarly consulted. Steve Schooner, a professor of government procurement law at George Washington University, highlighted the contrast. While federal agencies routinely seek input from industries they regulate, he told the Post, “ICE’s contractors are probably not the best voice to represent the people who are being detained.”
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