Supreme Court Rules Against Private Prison Firm In Migrant Detainee Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday delivered a unanimous procedural blow to GEO Group, a major private detention contractor facing allegations that immigration detainees in Colorado were forced to work for as little as $1 per day.
Importantly, the ruling does not resolve the underlying claims. Instead, it denies GEO’s attempt to fast-track an appeal before the case fully plays out in lower courts.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2014, alleges that detainees at a facility in Aurora, Colorado, were required to perform janitorial duties and other labor for minimal compensation, allegedly to supplement what plaintiffs described as inadequate meals.
GEO Group has maintained that, as a federal government contractor, it should be shielded from liability under principles of sovereign immunity. After a lower court rejected that argument, the company sought permission from the Supreme Court to immediately appeal the decision rather than wait for a final judgment.
The justices declined.
“If eventually found liable, GEO may of course appeal … but GEO must wait until then,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the Court’s opinion.
All nine justices agreed on the outcome, though Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito differed on aspects of the legal reasoning.
An attorney representing the Colorado detainees welcomed the decision.
“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, according to the Associated Press.
Based in Florida, GEO Group is one of the largest private detention operators in the country, managing or owning roughly 77,000 beds across 98 facilities. Among its contracts is a newly opened federal immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey — the same facility where Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested during a protest in May 2025. Charges against the Democrat were later dropped.
Similar labor-related lawsuits have surfaced elsewhere, including in Washington state, where GEO was ordered to pay more than $23 million. It remains unclear whether that ruling is under appeal.
Meanwhile, in a separate immigration-related dispute, a federal judge appointed by President Donald J. Trump found the Department of Homeland Security in civil contempt over its handling of a detainee transfer.
Minnesota U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud ruled Monday that DHS violated a court order by transferring a Mexican national identified only as “Fernando T.” after the judge had explicitly prohibited such a move.
Fernando had filed a habeas corpus petition on January 19 seeking release or a bond hearing. The following day, he requested a temporary restraining order to block any transfer while the court reviewed his petition. Judge Tostrud granted the request. Nonetheless, federal officials later reported that Fernando had been transferred to a facility in El Paso, Texas, on January 22.
Tostrud subsequently ordered DHS to return the detainee to Minnesota by January 24. The government responded that weather-related delays, including a major winter storm, made January 27 the earliest feasible return date.
In a letter included in Monday’s ruling, DHS acknowledged that releasing Fernando in Texas did not comply with the January 20 order. The department’s attorney told the court he was “deeply remorseful” and apologized for the violation.
Judge Tostrud was unmoved.
He wrote that the government’s letter “includes no legal argument, authority, or other response to Fernando’s request for compensatory sanctions.”
He also rejected the weather explanation, stating that “these asserted justifications do not support an inability to comply with the January 20 Order.”
Taken together, the rulings underscore the continued legal battles surrounding immigration enforcement, detention practices, and the balance of authority between federal contractors and the courts. While the Supreme Court’s decision does not determine GEO Group’s ultimate liability, it makes clear that contractors operating under federal authority are not automatically insulated from judicial scrutiny.
As immigration enforcement remains a central pillar of President Trump’s second-term agenda, the intersection of private detention, federal authority, and judicial oversight is likely to remain a flashpoint in the months ahead.