As Oversight Weakens, New Report Documents Failures in Sexual Abuse Investigations at Tacoma Detention Center

written by Natasha Last-Bernal | June 2026

Editor’s Note: The following article was written by Natasha Last-Bernal, one of the Tribuno’s summer interns. 

After a detained Mexican woman at Tacoma’s Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) reported being touched without consent and harassed by another detainee, facility investigators reviewed video footage and substantiated the allegation, but did not refer the case to local law enforcement.

The case is one of dozens highlighted in a new report from the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights (UWCHR), which found recurring failures in how allegations of sexual abuse were handled at the Northwest ICE Processing Center. For migrants in federal detention, internal investigations often determine whether allegations are taken seriously, referred outside the facility, and addressed before further harm occurs.

Drawing on more than 6,000 records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, the report documents 172 reports of sexual abuse at NWIPC between 2015 and 2025. Researchers identified three recurring failures:

  • Internal investigations that ignore key evidence
  • Failures to incorporate preventative measures
  • Failures to report crimes to law enforcement despite the facility’s “zero tolerance” policies.

In one key case, UWCHR investigators uncovered more than 700 phone calls and hundreds of text messages between a facility staff member and a detained Nicaraguan man, evidence of an inappropriate relationship, yet the allegation was ultimately classified as unsubstantiated. Sexual relationships between detention staff and people in federal custody are legally prohibited because detainees cannot legally consent. Even GEO Group, the private prison operator of NWIPC, states in its procedural manual that such contact is subject to “administrative and criminal disciplinary sanctions.”

The facility administrator at the time did not notify local law enforcement, writing that no criminal conduct was alleged despite “dozens of pages of romantic messages exchanged between the staff member and detainee.” Records also showed conflicting accounts of when the employee resigned. The case was therefore reviewed only through ICE and GEO’s internal processes, raising questions about the independence of the investigation.

Under the facility standards in place, GEO and ICE staff were required to thoroughly document allegations and report potentially criminal activity to the TPD. Of the 172 reports identified, investigators found detailed records for 145 cases. Only 19 reports were verified, while 36 were deemed unsubstantiated and the remainder unconfirmed. 

In at least 54 of the 172 cases reviewed, NWIPC staff did not inform law enforcement when allegations were deemed “less than criminal” in nature. However, reported incidents included verbal threats, voyeurism, and unwanted touching, all conduct that falls within the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)’s definition of sexual abuse. In one particular case of unwanted physical contact, supported by video evidence, “GEO did not contact the Tacoma Police Department as they will not investigate PREA allegations not involving serious physical assault.” Reported incidents are ultimately filtered through the facility’s judgments about what constitutes serious criminal conduct, meaning detained people must rely on subjective interpretations to determine how their allegations are defined and whether they are acted on.

The report comes as federal oversight of the facility is being reduced. A new ICE contract with GEO Group, issued March 26, 2026 and set to run through October 27, 2026, replaces the facility’s previous operating standards with the National Detention Standards, which UWCHR describes as significantly less strict. According to UWCHR, the change will allow “reasonable delays” in responding to detainee medical emergencies and reduce external oversight by shifting compliance toward federal rather than more stringent state and local requirements.

“Given that Washington’s state legislature has passed laws mandating minimum health and safety standards at the facility…this appears to be an attempt to directly invalidate such efforts,” the UWCHR report reads. 

GEO Group rejected the report’s conclusions. “This report by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights is part of a long-standing, politically motivated, and radical campaign…” said Christopher Ferreira, a spokesperson for GEO Group, to KUOW News. However, the facility has faced years of criticism over detention conditions, including a December 2024 hunger strike of over 40 migrants protesting unhygienic living conditions and treatment of detainees. 

La Resistencia, a grassroots immigrant rights organization, said detention in Washington has expanded even as oversight has decreased, putting migrants at greater risk. The group writes that the NWIPC facility “has created misery and suffering for tens of thousands of immigrants, who have been caged for weeks, months, and sometimes years while awaiting the resolution of their civil deportation proceedings,” adding that the population inside has grown from 500 to 1,575 since the center opened in 2004. “Every time GEO Group and ICE say they are improving the facility, they have just expanded the number of people caged in the state of Washington,” the group notes, calling for its immediate closure.

As of June 19, 2026, Juan Luis Flores Vallejo, a detained migrant at Northwest ICE Processing Center, ended his participation in the facility’s 17th hunger strike after missing nine meals and reporting retaliation by GEO Group. His case is one of many forms of resistance emerging inside the facility as detainees continue to raise concerns about conditions and treatment in a system where formal complaints are rarely heard outside the institutions that operate the center. 

With the facility now operating under the weakest oversight standards since its opening in 2004, the report’s findings suggest that allegations of sexual abuse at NWIPC are frequently mishandled through internal review systems run by GEO Group and ICE with limited referral to outside law enforcement even when evidence is substantiated. As a result, detained migrants are left to depend on the same institutions responsible for their confinement to investigate and respond to allegations of abuse.

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