The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) modified its national standards for immigration detention centers after one of its main private contractors proposed changes that benefit its legal position in labor litigation, as reported by The Washington Post.
The company GEO Group, which manages more than a dozen centers under contract with ICE, asked to eliminate references to state and local laws in the regulation of the centers and to adjust the language on the employment status of detainees, according to a person informed of the conversations cited by the newspaper.
ICE incorporated part of those proposals in the revised version of the standards. The new document establishes that detainees “are not employees” and are not entitled to wages or benefits under labor laws or state guidelines, and therefore eliminates previous references to the obligation to pay at least a dollar a day for work inside the centers.
GEO Group faces litigation in several states for alleged violations of minimum wage laws by paying some detainees $1 a day for work in the centers. The company maintains that it is voluntary work and that it operates under federal government guidelines.
The newspaper’s report also points out that the revision of regulations reflects the influence of private contractors on the immigration detention system, in which ICE acts as regulator and main client at the same time.
In this context, two high-ranking officials linked to the immigration policy of the current Government – the so-called “border czar”, Tom Homan, and the acting director of ICE, David Venturella, previously worked for GEO Group, according to the newspaper, which has led Democratic legislators to question whether there are possible conflicts of interest.
The Government has significantly expanded the use of detention centers in recent years, in parallel with the increase in migrant arrests, and has increasingly turned to private companies to manage these facilities.
GEO Group is one of the largest private operators of immigration detention centers in the United States. The company manages facilities for ICE in different states and has been at the center of controversies and litigation related to detention conditions and the use of migrant labor in custody.
Under the Trump Administration, immigration detentions in the United States reached a record level: more than 73,000 immigrants were detained in January, the highest number since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2001, and this year at least 51 people have died in the custody of immigration authorities since January 2025.
