Feds fly 110 detained migrants to Washington state, advocacy group says

Observers said a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flight arrived over the weekend with dozens of people sent to a detention center in Tacoma.

More than 100 detained migrants were flown Sunday to Seattle en route to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, according to an advocacy group that called the number of people on the flight “unprecedented.”

La Resistencia said the group of 110 people came from Phoenix on Sunday and was the largest the organization had seen on such a flight since it began monitoring arrivals and departures in 2023. The biggest flight La Resistencia said it had seen before had 53 people.

The immigrant rights organization reported the people exited the plane at Boeing Field wearing handcuffs and civilian clothing. Their countries of origin were unclear.

La Resistencia’s founder Maru Mora Villalpando said the Sunday flight was odd, as the flights usually arrive at the King County-owned airport on Tuesdays.

A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t respond directly to questions about the flight.

La Resistencia tracks flights coming and going from Boeing Field from a room inside the airport with a live camera feed. Usually, people arriving on flights are then loaded on buses and taken to the Tacoma facility, Mora Villalpando said.

The privately-run detention center is one of the biggest of its kind in the country and the only in the state, with a capacity of over 1,500 people. La Resistencia said the 110 arrivals would push the center’s population over 1,000, returning it to pre-pandemic levels.

Mora Villalpondo expects flights carrying more people to become the norm as President Donald Trump has promised to drastically ramp up deportations.

“This is just a sign of things that are coming,” said Mora Villalpando.

The Tacoma facility houses both locals detained for deportation as well as people authorities take into custody at the southern border and transport to Washington. Stays can range from a day to months or even years.

The GEO Group, based in Florida, operates the facility. La Resistencia has for years pushed officials to close it.

ICE has reported arresting over 800 people per day for the past week, up from an average around 300 before Trump took office.

The for-profit facility in Tacoma has long faced scrutiny over alleged human rights violations.

The University of Washington Center for Human Rights has found widespread use of solitary confinement, chronically unsanitary conditions and staff mistreatment of detainees. These conditions lead to frequent hunger strikes, including an ongoing one lasting over 40 days, according to La Resistencia.

“Now imagine when they reach maximum capacity,” Mora Villalpando said.

In the past, GEO paid detainees $1 a day for their work, including laundry, cleaning and preparing food. Last month, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed lower court rulings that found this practice violated Washington’s minimum wage law.

And a report last year found that those held at the facility spend more time in detention than the national average.

Two detainees reportedly died at the facility last year, one of natural causes after years in solitary confinement and another who was suffering from fentanyl withdrawal.

ICE and GEO have maintained that the center follows federal standards and have expressed their commitment to respecting the rights of detainees. GEO on Monday referred questions to ICE.

Jake Goldstein-Street and Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero are reporters for Washington State Standard, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com. Follow Washington State Standard on Facebook and Twitter.