Aurora detention labor suit heads to jury

A federal jury will begin hearing a twelve year old lawsuit against Geo Group on Monday at the Aurora immigration detention center.

The case challenges how the private company manages labor for immigrant detainees. Plaintiffs allege the facility forces people to clean their own housing units under threat of solitary confinement. The lawsuit also claims the company profits unfairly from a voluntary work program. Under that program, detainees receive one dollar per day for performing various tasks inside the facility. The legal dispute covers operations between 2004 and 2014, although advocates say similar practices continue today.

Geo Group is a publicly traded company that expects to generate roughly $3 billion in revenue this year. The firm secured new contracts under the current administration’s detain and deport program. Earlier this month, Geo signed a temporary contract to extend its deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The company has already earned hundreds of millions of dollars for its prior work at the Aurora site. In 2014, nine former detainees filed the initial complaint. The case is structured as a class action, meaning it represents thousands of other individuals detained at the facility during the Bush and Obama administrations.

Hans Meyer, a Denver immigration lawyer on the legal team, argues the labor practices are designed to maximize financial gain. He describes Geo’s approach as a rapaciously profitable business model. David Seligman, another attorney on the case, said the trial puts the core of Geo’s business model on trial. He stated that the case is about the exploitation private prison companies engage in to cut costs.

The Aurora facility opened in the 1980s and holds 1,532 people. It is the only detention facility in Colorado. Geo Group first won the federal contract for this building. Last month, several current and former detainees reported poor food and violent guards to The Denver Post. Geo has denied that its practices constitute forced labor or unjust enrichment. The company previously argued that cleaning requirements represent a civic duty allowed under federal law. A minimum wage claim in the suit was dismissed in July 2015, but the remaining claims proceeded to trial.

Geo Group has faced legal challenges across the country. A federal jury in Washington state ordered the company to pay $23 million for minimum wage violations, a ruling upheld by an appeals court last year. Health officials in Colorado and New Jersey have also sued for inspector access. The Supreme Court ruled against Geo on a technical question earlier this year. The high court also rejected a previous appeal from the company. Last week, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver rejected Geo’s final request to delay the trial.

The trial is expected to last up to three weeks, with opening statements likely on Tuesday. The lawsuit has spanned four presidential administrations and involved more than 40 attorneys. A Geo Group spokesman did not return a message seeking comment for this story.