The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday against GEO Group, a private prison company facing a lawsuit that claims immigration detainees were compelled to work for just $1 a day in Colorado. The unanimous ruling represents a procedural setback for GEO Group, but it is not a final decision.
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The company is contesting a lawsuit filed in 2014, which alleges that detainees in Aurora were required to perform unpaid janitorial work and other tasks for minimal pay in order to supplement their inadequate meals.
GEO Group defended its practices, asserting that it should be immune from lawsuits as a government contractor. However, when a judge ruled against this argument, the company requested the Supreme Court’s permission to expedite an appeal of the ruling. The justices declined that request, The Associated Press reported.“If eventually found liable, GEO may of course appeal … but GEO must wait until then,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote. All nine justices agreed with the decision, but Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito had differing views on the reasoning.
An lawyer who argued on behalf of the Colorado detainees applauded the ruling.“The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision reaffirms a straightforward rule: government contractors like GEO do not qualify for sovereign immunity and must follow the same ‘one case, one appeal’ principle that governs every other litigant,” attorney Jennifer Bennett said, per the AP.
The GEO Group, based in Florida, is one of the leading private detention providers in the United States, managing or owning approximately 77,000 beds across 98 facilities. Among its contracts is a new federal immigration detention center, where Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested during a protest in May 2025. The charges against the Democrat were later dropped.
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Similar lawsuits have been filed on behalf of immigration detainees in other locations, including a case in Washington state, where the company was ordered to pay over $23 million. It’s not clear if that ruling is under appeal.
A federal judge appointed by President Trump, meanwhile, found the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in civil contempt for violating a court order related to the
