Judge plans to dismiss case on wages of immigrant detainees
SEATTLE • A U.S. 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.
U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan issued a proposed order notifying lawyers for the state and for the GEO Group, which operates the large immigration detention center in Tacoma, that he plans to dismiss the case. He gave them until Oct. 4 to respond.
“Judges don’t like to reverse themselves,” Bryan wrote. “Sometimes, however, it is necessary — when the law changes or becomes more clear, or when additional facts come to light.”
In his proposed order, Bryan said he especially took note of two rulings, one from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
In this photo taken Sept. 10, 2019, workers are shown in the kitchen of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Tacoma, Wash. during a media tour. On Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019, U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan notified attorneys for Washington state and the GEO Group — which operates the detention center — that he plans to dismiss a case in which Washington state was pursuing a claim that immigration detainees must be paid minimum wage for work they perform in custody. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)