A Trump-appointed federal judge has ruled in favor of a private prison company in its legal battle against a new Colorado law requiring more health and safety inspections for immigration detention facilities.
The lawsuit, brought in June to the U.S. District Court in Denver, was initiated by the GEO Group. The private for-profit prison company alleged that a new Colorado law that went into effect this month conflicts with its contract with the federal government.
The law is House Bill 26-1276, which requires an increase of inspections for federal immigration detention facilities in the state. Though there are plans to build more immigration detention facilities in the state, there is currently only one, and it sits in Adams County in the Denver area. The state has been concerned about the facility, where a tuberculosis outbreak occurred in June.
GEO attorney Fred Yarger argued in court that because it’s the only immigration detention facility in the state, the bill was the Legislature’s attempt to “directly and specifically regulate, through targeted legislation, a single facility in the state.”
The company sought a preliminary injunction against the law. Last Thursday, U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico ruled in favor of GEO’s defense that the targeted legislation “discriminates against GEO based on its status as a federal contractor.”
Domenico cited the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, declaring that state law cannot interfere with federal activities. The judge said GEO’s explicit relationship with the federal government, as displayed by its contract with the Department of Homeland Security, was sufficient to prove the company is under federal authority.
The state law claims the GEO Group will face up to a $50,000 fine if it does not comply with the heightened health and safety inspections. It also requires the prison company to pay for the costs of the inspections. GEO claims all of this violates its federal contract.
GEO specifically argued the law violates the intergovernmental immunity doctrine. “This doctrine prevents a state from directly regulating the federal government or those with whom the federal government deals,” according to GEO’s court document.
The Center Square reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment. DHS responded by referring The Center Square to GEO Group, but the company did not respond to The Center Square.
Colorado has recently faced many legal battles against the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2025. In fact, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has a portion of his website dedicated to litigation efforts against the current administration, which references 77 lawsuits his office filed or joined.
Lawrence Pacheco, Weiser’s chief communications officer, referred The Center Square to Weiser’s statement on Aug. 20 about the ruling in GEO Group’s favor. Weiser said the ruling only provided a temporary broad injunction against one provision of the new law and that it did not provide the broad relie that the prison company sought.
Pacheco declined to make any further comment to The Center Square.
GEO Group, meanwhile, faces litigation for its alleged failure to comply with the Adams County public health order requesting information from the immigration detention facility’s tuberculosis outbreak in June.
The state sued the company and requested a judge grant a preliminary injunction so that health and safety inspectors can enter the facility to investigate the tuberculosis case. GEO has provided little information to the media about the outbreak and has denied public health officials from entering the facility.
Colorado argues this conflicts with the Adams County Health Department’s public order to hand over documents relating to the outbreak and granting officials access to the facility.
The Adams County Health Department did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.
