OLYMPIA, Wash. – The trial over whether immigration detainees must be paid minimum wage for tasks such as cooking and cleaning has ended with a hung jury.
State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued Florida-based GEO Group in 2017, saying the company had unjustly profited by running the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma — now known as the Northwest ICE Processing Center — on the backs of captive workers, paying as little as $1 a day.
U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan in Tacoma declared a mistrial Thursday after the 9-person jury could not reach unanimous agreement after a two-week trial and two days of deliberation.
A separate lawsuit filed on behalf of detainees was also filed that year seeking back pay, and the two lawsuits were consolidated for trial.
The judge said he expected the cases would be set for a new trial.
