High Court Denies Private Prison Company’s Appeal in Detainee Labor Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from GEO Group, a major private prison operator, in a lawsuit claiming immigration detainees were forced into labor for $1 daily wages. The Florida-based company sought immunity as a government contractor, but the justices unanimously refused to hear their expedited appeal.

WASHINGTON — The nation’s highest court delivered a setback Wednesday to a major private prison corporation battling claims that immigration detainees were compelled to perform labor for just $1 per day at a Colorado facility.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court rejected GEO Group’s request for an expedited appeal, though this represents a procedural loss rather than a final judgment on the merits. The company has been contesting a decade-old lawsuit from 2014 that accuses the firm of requiring detainees at its Aurora facility to carry out custodial duties and other tasks without compensation, or for minimal wages to help offset insufficient food provisions.

The GEO Group has maintained its employment practices are lawful and contended the litigation should be dismissed because the company enjoys immunity from civil suits due to its status as a federal contractor.

When a lower court rejected this argument, GEO petitioned the Supreme Court for permission to bypass normal appeals procedures. However, the justices declined to grant this request.

Based in Florida, GEO Group ranks among the nation’s largest private detention operators, controlling approximately 77,000 beds across 98 facilities nationwide. The company’s portfolio includes a recently opened federal immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, where Mayor Ras Baraka was taken into custody during a May 2025 demonstration, though charges against the Democratic mayor were subsequently dismissed.

Comparable legal challenges have emerged at other locations where GEO operates, including litigation in Washington state that resulted in a court ordering the company to pay over $23 million in damages.