Bill would tax millionaire operators of ICE detention centers
Published 1:30 am Friday, February 27, 2026
By Annika Hauer
WA State Journal
People operating a private, for-profit detention center who make more than $1 million annually would be taxed under a proposed bill.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Tomiko Santos, D-Seattle, targets the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, which is in Santos’ district. No other facilities were named.
“These are for-profit organizations that are profiting on human suffering,” Santos said. “I want us to stand strongly against that type of suffering.”
She cited what she called inhumane conditions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, kids waiting at home for their detained parent and families afraid to go outside because of workplace raids.
According to publicly available ICE data, nearly 43% of detainees — 25,193 people — currently held in ICE detention nationwide have no criminal convictions.
For-profit, multibillion-dollar company GEO Group Inc. from Florida profits off the Northwest ICE Processing Center by the millions every year, according to the state’s attorney general, despite having records of paying its workers $1 per day.
As the bill, HB 2713, reads, “Persons must pay a surcharge on Washington taxable income arising from operating a private detention facility if the person has annual Washington gross receipts in excess of $1,000,000.”
Current state law defines a private detention facility as “a detention facility that is operated by a private, nongovernmental entity and operating pursuant to a contract or agreement with a federal, state, or local governmental entity.”
The number of people this would tax, and the amount of revenue it would bring in, is currently unavailable.
According to the bill’s briefing, though, the Department of Revenue noted it cannot disclose the impacts of legislation affecting fewer than three taxpayers. The department is seeking authorization from the affected taxpayers to share information on how much money a tax like this would bring in for the state.
“If these entities are going to be allowed to operate within the boundaries of the state of Washington,” Santos said, “let us make sure that we are taxing them to help fund those services that will support families who are suffering today.”
The bill did not have a public hearing until Feb. 20, long after committee and house of origin cutoff days, and just before the House and Senate supplemental budgets release. It can still be considered because it can be deemed “necessary to implement the budget” by having a fiscal impact.
HB 2713 now awaits an executive session in the House Finance Committee.
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