Northwest Detention Center Archives | Northwest Public Broadcasting

Private Prison Ban Could Limit Federal Immigration Detention In The Northwest

By NWPB News March 5, 2021

An activist with the Yakima Immigrant Response Network holds a sign quoting Governor Jay Inslee as 88 federal detainees held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement board a plane headed south to El Paso, Texas, likely to be deported. CREDIT: ENRIQUE PÉREZ DE LA ROSA/NWPB

BY LILLY FOWLER / CROSSCUT Originally published March 2, 2021, on Crosscut.com After years of pressure from activists, the detention of adults and teens by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could be severely curtailed in the Pacific Northwest, thanks to action in the courts and in the Washington Legislature. Last week, the Washington state House… Read More

People Detained In Tacoma Immigration Jail May Spend 2 Months Or Longer In Solitary

By Esmy Jimenez October 14, 2019

Raul holds a keychain, a gift from his daughter, at his apartment. “When you lose everything… you lose fear too,” he says in a thin voice. CREDIT: Megan Farmer/KUOW

Raul went on a hunger strike to protest jail conditions ... and then landed in solitary. It’s routine for ICE to put detainees in solitary to monitor their health but it's unclear if officials placed him there for that reason, or as a disciplinary action. Read More

Federal Judge Plans To Dismiss Case On Wages Of Detainees At Tacoma ICE Facility

By NWPB News September 24, 2019

File photo. The Northwest Detention Center, run by the private GEO Group, is located in Tacoma. CREDIT: KOMO via AP

A federal judge who previously ruled that Washington state could pursue its claim that immigration detainees must be paid minimum wage for work at a privately run, for-profit immigration jail said Tuesday he intends to reverse himself at the urging of the Trump administration. Read More

Man Dies After Attack Outside Federal Immigration Detention Center In Tacoma

By NWPB News July 13, 2019

A man armed with a rifle threw incendiary devices at an immigration detention facility in Tacoma early Saturday morning, then was found dead after four police officers arrived and opened fire, authorities said. Continue Reading Man Read More

Shelters For Immigrant Teens Expanded As Record Numbers Continue To Cross

By NPR News September 13, 2018

Over 12,000 immigrant teens are being held in shelters across the country. Record numbers continue to cross and the government is expanding shelter capacity to hold them. Continue Reading Shelters For Immigrant Teens Expanded As Record Read More

Trump Administration Proposes Rule To Allow Longer Detention Of Migrant Children

By NPR News September 7, 2018

Under the Flores settlement, immigrant minors can't be held in jail-like settings and can't be held for longer than 20 days. The government's move to circumvent that will likely end up in court. Continue Reading Trump Read More

Parents Separated From Children At U.S.-Mexico Border Headed To Northwest Prisons

By Conrad Wilson June 9, 2018

In this June 4, 2018 photo, people seeking political asylum in the United States line up to be interviewed in Tijuana, Mexico, just across the U.S. border south of San Diego.

Over 100 men from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are being held at the federal prison in Sheridan, Oregon, according to an immigration attorney trying to gain access to the facility to provide legal counsel. ICE has contracted space for 130 beds at the federal prison in Sheridan and 209 beds at the SeaTac federal detention center in Washington. Read More

Reprieve Of Legal Aid For Some Immigrants In Tacoma Detention Center

By NWPB News April 26, 2018

There’s been a reprieve on a legal aid program for immigrants facing deportation at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said workshops to help immigrants understand their rights can continue for now, while a review of the program continues. Read More

A Father, A Husband, An Immigrant: Detained And Facing Deportation In The Northwest

By NPR News January 25, 2018

Manuel, shown with his family, first came to the United States illegally more than two decades ago. He was one of the 143,470 immigrants arrested in the interior of the country last year by immigration authorities.

Manuel came to the U.S. two decades ago, one of 143,470 such people who were arrested in the country's interior last year. Most are ordered to leave. For six months, Manuel awaited his fate. What happened to this family here in the Pacific Northwest? Read More