GEO Group, one of the nation’s largest private prison contractors, filed a federal lawsuit last month against California officials to strike down a state law allowing local public health officials to inspect immigration detention facilities.
The Florida-based company argued in a filing that California’s law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in August, is unconstitutional because it steps on the federal government’s authority to manage detention centers. By extension, GEO claimed intergovernmental immunity as a contractor.
“This case involves the latest in a string of attempts by the State of California to ban federal immigration enforcement in the state, or so significantly burden such efforts as to drive federal agencies and contractors involved in that constitutionally mandated national security function from California,” according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of California.
GEO spokesperson Christopher Ferreira did not respond to requests for comment. The lawsuit names Newsom, state Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Kern County health officer Kristopher Lyon as defendants. All three declined to comment. A first hearing is scheduled for February.
GEO Group could expand its grip on immigration detention facilities now that former President Donald Trump won a second term. Trump has promised a mass deportation of immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization, and investors sense Trump’s policies will create a boon for private prison companies such as GEO. GEO’s stock skyrocketed, increasing 75%, after Trump’s victory.
People and groups associated with the private prison giant spent roughly $5.6 million on lobbying and donations this past election cycle, much of it going to conservative political action committees, including $1 million to Make America Great Again Inc., according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks campaign finance and lobbying data.
César García Hernández, an immigration law professor at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, said a judge will most likely block implementation of the California law while litigation is pending. In March, a federal judge blocked Washington state from enforcing most of a law to increase oversight and improve living conditions at that state’s only private immigration detention facility.
“GEO has been rather successful in turning to the courts in order to block access to its facilities,” García Hernández said. “The private prison company is trying to insulate itself by taking cover........