U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement eased its operating standards for migrant detention centers after being asked by a company that runs more than a dozen facilities, according to a report Tuesday.
The new rules, posted online Monday, no longer require private prison contractors to comply with state and local laws, or to pay migrants at least $1 a day to work for them, The Washington Post said.
The move came after The Geo Group — which formerly employed two of President Donald Trump’s top immigration officials and made hefty donations to Trump’s 2025 inaugural fund and a Trump-aligned super PAC — was sued in three states for allegedly violating minimum wage laws, The Post said.
The founding faculty director of Northwestern University’s Deportation Research Clinic, Jacqueline Stevens, told The Post that ICE can’t just supersede employment laws by changing its rules for contractors.
“ICE cannot magically wipe out those protections,” Stevens said.
A former Department of Homeland Security ombudsman who oversaw migrant detention practices during part of the Biden administration also told The Associated Press that the revised standards were “100 percent” sure to “result in deterioration of already problematic conditions of detention.”
“It’s consistent with their general practice, which is to eliminate accountability and oversight,” Michelle Brane told AP. “They are not concerned with people’s basic rights or safety of detainees.”
In a statement to The Independent, an ICE spokesperson said revisions to its standards were the result of “looking at ways to improve our detention facilities to ensure we are providing the best care.”
“As part of the revision process, ICE consulted with a variety of stakeholders, including facility operators responsible for implementing the standards,” the statement said. “ICE considered that input alongside operational, legal and policy requirements when making a final decision on the standards.”
ICE also said the new standards included provisions for “interpretation and translation services at no cost to the detainees, additional safeguards for mental health treatment, and additional records retention polices.”
A spokesperson for The Geo Group didn’t immediately return an inquiry from The Independent and reportedly also didn’t respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
The new standards were released just days after ICE was awarded $38 billion from the $70 billion immigration enforcement bill Trump signed last week.
They also came amid reports of record-setting deaths in migrant detention centers, in addition to allegations of medical neglect, inadequate food and other substandard conditions.
The Geo Group asked ICE to eliminate rules requiring contractors to follow state and local laws that apply to the treatment of detainees, and to specify that detainees aren’t employees of the facilities where they work, according to The Post, which cited an unidentified person familiar with the discussions.
The revisions reportedly include some of the requested changes, including a reference that says detainees “are not entitled to wages or benefits under applicable wage laws or labor regulations.”
The new rules also removed a requirement that detainees who work while in custody must be paid at least $1 a day, and eliminated several references that said contractors had to comply with state or local laws, according to The Post.
Corporate filings show that ICE is The Geo Group’s biggest customer and the new standards include a note that says one goal was to “reduce the burden on our detention operators,” The Post said.
Both Trump’s so-called border czar, Tom Homan, and acting ICE Director David Venturella, formerly worked for The Geo Group, where Venturella was a senior executive who was paid millions of dollars to oversee its detention business, according to The Post.
Venturella was hired as a senior adviser to the Department of Homeland Security in February 2025, less than two weeks after leaving The Geo Group as a paid consultant, and he received a waiver from a one-year federal ban against working on contracts awarded to a former employer, The Post said.
In December 2024, The Geo Group donated $500,000 to Trump’s presidential inaugural fund and a subsidiary, Geo Reentry Services, has contributed $2 million to the MAGA Inc. super PAC since October, according to The Post.
The White House referred an inquiry from The Independent to ICE, but The Post said a White House spokesperson said Homan adhered to federal ethics and conflict of interest rules.
In addition to the rules regarding detainee pay and state and local laws, the AP said the new standards allow ICE to use artificial intelligence tools for “noncritical communication” or “informal interactions with detainees.”
Another change reportedly allows detention centers to refuse to admit every detainee sent by ICE, which could result in some migrants not being immediately sent to hospitals for needed treatment, while also potentially reducing liability if they later die, the AP said.
