Detainees at California ICE facility win ‘landmark’ safety settlement, protections
A private prison operator will pay a six-figure fine to state health and safety officials to settle a complaint that immigrants detained at California ICE detention facilities worked in unsafe conditions during the coronavirus pandemic.
The settlement stems from a complaint filed with Cal/OSHA in June 2022 where immigrants detained at Golden State Annex ICE detention center in the Kern County city of McFarland alleged unsafe working conditions.
Immigrant rights advocates said in a press release that the settlement agreement between the Florida-based private prison operator, Geo Group, and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Cal/OSHA, is a “landmark victory for detained workers and immigrant justice advocates.”
In the May 26 settlement, the GEO Group agreed to pay a civil penalty of $104,510. The company also agreed to implement its “Aerosol Transmissible Diseases” exposure control plan at Golden State Annex and other detention and re-entry facilities it operates in California.
As part of the settlement, GEO also agrees to ensure detained people working in the facilities have access to necessary tools, equipment, and personal protective equipment (PPE) to safely and effectively perform any necessary tasks.
“Our advocacy for these brave workers has been vindicated, and now GEO must treat them with dignity and respect,” Karin Umfrey, managing attorney and policy advocacy director at Worksafe said in a press release. “We want to thank Cal/OSHA for their pursuit of worker protection in this case.”
The facilities covered include five ICE-contracted facilities — Adelanto ICE Processing Center, Desert View Annex, Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center, Golden State Annex, and Central Valley Annex — where detained people work on tasks including cleaning, lifting, maintenance of the housing units, painting, and food preparation, handling and more.
Geo Group did not respond to a request for comment.
“A settlement has been reached affirming that private immigration detention facilities, operating under contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for civil detention, including those managed by the GEO Group, a Florida-based for-profit prison company, are subject to California’s workplace safety and health requirements,” a Cal/OSHA spokesperson said in a statement.
Mariel Villarreal, senior Attorney for the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, celebrated the settlement, saying it shows the importance of worker-led organizing and the role of state agencies in defending people from “the cruelty, injustice and abuse of private prison corporations profiting off the federal government’s anti-immigrant policies.”
“This is a clear victory for the rights of all workers, and especially for people working while locked up in ICE detention,” Villarreal said.
A 2021 law authored by Asm. Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), spurred by the coronavirus pandemic, requires private detention centers to abide by Cal/OSHA workplace safety rules and regulations, which paved the way for these detained workers to file a Cal/OSHA complaint.
Cal/OSHA initially issued citations to Geo Group in December 2022, primarily related to the lack of the “Aerosol Transmissible Diseases” safety plan. The company contested the citations in March 2023, which kicked off a series of hearings and appeals in the ensuing years. Geo Group eventually appealed a Cal/OSHA board’s decision in California Superior Court, according to the press release.
The Cal/OSHA spokesperson said this settlement leaves intact the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board ruling that civil immigration detainees who participate in facility work programs may participate anonymously in proceedings before the Appeals Board, acknowledging the potential for retaliation when individuals raise workplace safety concerns.
Immigrant and labor rights groups say the settlement is significant because for the first time under California law, the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board held in January 2025 that people who work in civil detention are distinct from people incarcerated for criminal legal reasons and are entitled to participate in proceedings related to their Cal/OSHA complaint.
“I’m glad to see they (GEO Group) are taking some responsibility for the dangers they put us through by exposing us to hazardous conditions and failing to provide necessary protections to us,” an anonymous detained individual who was one of the original complainants said in the press release.
In a lawsuit filed in 2022, detainees at Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield sued the centers’ operator — the GEO Group — over their $1-per-day wages and alleged retaliation after they protested conditions.
