GEO Group to Pay More Than $100,000 and Extend Worker Protections to People Detained in Its California ICE Facilities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2026

Media Contacts:

Stephen Knight,  Worksafe — sknight@worksafe.org 510-922-1444

Alex Mensing, California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice — alex@ccijustice.org 415.684.5463

GEO Group to Pay More Than $100,000 and Extend Worker Protections to People Detained in Its California ICE Facilities

Legal settlement with Cal/OSHA caps a four-year fight that secured critical protections for people who work while detained in ICE detention centers operated by GEO Group. 

Oakland, Calif. — In a landmark victory for detained workers and immigrant justice advocates, the GEO Group — one of the nation's largest private prison and immigration detention contractors — has agreed to pay a fine of more than $100,000 and to ensure that detained workers in its California facilities receive necessary tools, equipment and personal protective equipment (“PPE”). The settlement, reached with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), resolves a complaint originally brought by the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ) and Worksafe on behalf of individuals detained at the Golden State Annex in McFarland, California, while fighting deportation. The case has been ongoing for more than four years.

"Our advocacy for these brave workers has been vindicated, and now GEO must treat them with dignity and respect," said Karin Umfrey, Managing Attorney & Policy Advocacy Director at Worksafe. "We want to thank Cal/OSHA for their pursuit of worker protection in this case."

“This is a clear victory for the rights of all workers, and especially for people working while locked up in ICE detention. 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,” said Mariel Villarreal, Senior Attorney at CCIJ. “GEO fought these citations because millions of dollars in blood money are on the line for them. We have to keep up the pressure on ICE and these multi-billion-dollar corporations.”

“I can’t believe it took GEO four years to admit the harm they did to detained workers when we were at their Golden State Annex facility,” said one of the original complainants who worked for GEO Group while detained at Golden State Annex. He requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation. “I’m glad to see they 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.” 

In January 2025, CCIJ and Worksafe won a major victory for detained workers when  the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board (OSHAB) rejected GEO’s assertion that people in civil detention were “prisoners,” and thus excluded from participation in the proceedings. OSHAB held, for the first time under California law, that people who work in civil detention are distinct from people incarcerated for criminal legal reasons - who are still unjustly denied many workplace rights - and are entitled to participate in proceedings related to their Cal/OSHA complaint. [See California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board, In the Matter of the Appeal of: the Geo Group, Inc., Inspection No. 1609228 (Decision After Reconsideration, 2025) 2025 WL 235376, Available at https://www.dir.ca.gov/oshab/Decisions/DAR/1609228-Geo-Group.pdf.]

GEO appealed that decision in California Superior Court, but has now settled all disputed matters related to the citations issued against GEO and dismissed their appeal. A copy of the settlement is available here.

The case originated during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when detained workers who earn just $1 dollar per day filed a complaint exposing GEO’s failure to provide them even basic protections. 

Under the terms of the settlement GEO must pay $104,510 in fines for worker rights violations regarding its Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) program, hazard communication, emergency eyewash and shower equipment, exit signs, among others. GEO must also establish Exposure Control Plans for over a dozen GEO facilities throughout California, spanning both immigrant detention and re-entry centers.

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 engage in essential work to keep the facilities running, including cleaning, lifting, maintenance of the housing units, painting, and food preparation, handling, and service. GEO Group must now provide detained workers with the tools, equipment, and PPE required to do their jobs safely.

The settlement is all the more striking given GEO has spent years rejecting the clear legal reality: these workers are employees who must be afforded basic human rights. ICE, which is currently led by a former GEO executive, has now altered its National Detention Standards in an attempt to deny this basic fact.  

GEO Group, along with CoreCivic, is one of the country's wealthiest private prison contractors and has played a lead role in the Trump Administration's violent national anti-immigrant campaign. Deadly and inhumane detention is a central feature of that campaign. California’s own Department of Justice recently released a scathing report based on inspections of ICE detention centers in the state, documenting serious abuses including inadequate medical care. This abuse is rampant in GEO-operated facilities, including Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, and the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, which have been the focus of recent hunger strikes and demonstrations.

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Worksafe- Worksafe is California’s leading statewide worker health and safety advocacy organization, dedicated to strengthening protections for the state’s workforce of more than 18 million. Learn more at www.worksafe.org. 

About the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ)The California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ) is dedicated to building collective power to end immigrant detention. CCIJ utilizes coordination, advocacy, and legal services to fight for the liberation of immigrants in California. Learn more at www.ccijustice.org and follow CCIJ on Instagram and other social media at @ccijustice (@ccijustice_ on TikTok)

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