The GEO Group maintained that the detainees were not employees under the Washington Minimum Wage Act.

‘By relying on detainee labor, GEO avoided the cost of hiring non-detainee workers and unjustly pocketed the savings and resulting profits,’ charged the Washington state attorney general’s office.

It’s not enough to just ban future contracts between the law enforcement agency and private prisons, experts say.

‘When I blow my nose, blood comes out,’ one immigrant reported.