National Labor Relations Board Files Complaint Against GEO Group for Retaliation Against Workers at Mesa Verde Detention Facility

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January 9, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE: National Labor Relations Board Files Complaint Against GEO Group for Retaliation Against Workers at Mesa Verde Detention Facility

Irvine, CA – In a landmark move for workers’ rights, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a formal complaint against GEO Group (GEO), a private prison company, for retaliating against two workers at the Mesa Verde Detention Facility. GEO operates the facility contractually for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The complaint, filed on behalf of Pedro Jesus Figueroa Padilla and Jose Ruben Hernandez Gomez, alleges violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), including retaliation for engaging in protected concerted activity.

“This is a milestone in a long and ongoing battle involving exploitation and inhumane treatment inside detention centers,” said Pedro Jesus Figueroa Padilla. “I experienced labor exploitation while in the fire camp program, risking my life many times for less than the cost of a cup of coffee, and then was singled out and retaliated against by a private prison operator for raising concerns over a $1 a day pay. With this decision, I feel hopeful that there can begin some sort of process of accountability from a private corporation for their horrendous acts.” 

“The misuse and abuse of authority from GEO staff has left me scarred with physical and mental trauma that I hope no human being ever experiences.” said Jose Ruben Hernandez Gomez. “Even though I am now released, I still fear retaliation, and I’m seeking accountability not only for me but for others who are subjected to this kind of exploitative and dangerous labor inside ICE detention.”

Jose Ruben Hernandez Gomez speaks outside the ICE office in San Francisco

Both Figueroa Padilla and Hernandez Gomez were detained at the Mesa Verde Detention Facility while also working at the facility for a wage of just $1-a-day. Their jobs, including cleaning and maintenance duties, were essential to the facility’s operation–yet their pay was nominal at best. When they took part in a collective labor strike to protest unsafe working conditions, unfair wages, and other systemic abuses, they were met with retaliation by GEO Group, including being placed in solitary confinement as punishment.

The NLRB complaint is a milestone in workers’ rights because it recognizes detained workers like Figueroa Padilla and Hernandez Gomez as employees under federal law. It then challenges GEO’s acts of retaliation, alleging violations of various sections of the NLRA meant to safeguard workers’ rights to engage in concerted activity to improve their working conditions.  

“This case highlights the urgent need to address the labor exploitation occurring within private detention facilities, where detained individuals are subjected to unsafe working conditions for subminimum wages,” said Mariel Villarreal, Senior Attorney at the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ). “Pedro and Jose Ruben not only risked their own safety but stood up for their fellow coworkers, demanding better wages and conditions. Instead of being heard, they were punished.”

Figueroa Padilla and Hernandez Gomez, like many other detained workers across the country, were compelled to accept low-wage jobs provided by GEO Group, the private prison company that also jails them. Without the $1-a-day income, they could not regularly afford phone calls to their legal representation and loved ones, or everyday essentials that they were forced to purchase through commissary and which are sold at exorbitant prices. GEO – a company that saw investments skyrocket from the outcome of the most recent presidential election – has been doubling down, creating opportunities to severely exploit the labor of those they are caging and further increase their already immense profits. With this complaint issued against GEO, the NLRB seeks to impose basic legal requirements on GEO’s use of detained immigrants as a work force, finding that Figueroa Padilla, Hernandez Gomez, and other detained workers like them should be treated as employees, ensuring they have the same rights under federal law that every worker has.

“This case sends a clear message that private prison companies cannot silence those who demand basic human rights and fair wages, even if those workers are detained individuals,” said Sameer Ashar, director of the University of California, Irvine Workers, Law, and Organizing Clinic, which represents the two workers with CCIJ. “The NLRB’s decision to move forward with this case is a critical step in holding GEO accountable for its actions and ensuring the protection of workers who are too often exploited and ignored, both inside and outside of detention centers.”

You can download a copy of the complaint below.

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CPT.31-CA-309785.Complaint and Notice of Hearing (1).pdf

Download PDF • 231KB