La Rond Baker, Maru Mora-Villalpando, & Megan Ybarra
Monday, March 5, 2018 – 10:30am to 12:00pm
HUB 337
This panel brings together three speakers to discuss the ongoing human rights violations
against detainees held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. The detention center is a private, for-profit facility that holds immigrants awaiting civil immigration proceedings. In
September 2017, Washington’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit against GEO Group, the center’s operator and one of the nation’s largest private prison providers, for violating Washington’s minimum wage laws. Detainees are paid $1 per day—or, in some cases, snacks—to perform tasks necessary to operate the facility, including cleaning, maintenance, laundry service, and food preparation. Over the past year, detainees have engaged in multiple hunger strikes to protest unfair labor conditions, among other things. Panelists will discuss the state’s case against GEO Group, the ongoing hunger strikes, and the environmental hazards of the detention center.
Event Sponsors include: The Center for Human Rights, Comparative History of Ideas, Jackson School of International Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Simpson Center for the Humanities.
Event will be held on Monday, March 5th, 2018 from 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM in HUB 337. For more event information see the Simpson Center for the Humanities’ Event Calendar.
