A federal judge is allowing Washington state to proceed with its lawsuit seeking to force a privately run immigration detention center in Tacoma to pay minimum wage for work done by detainees.
The judge ruled Wednesday that the company that runs the facility failed to show that Washington state’s minimum wage law, as it applies to detainees, is pre-empted by federal law.
He found that other arguments GEO made couldn’t be resolved this early in the case. GEO Group pays detainees $1 per day for things like janitorial or kitchen work.
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