GEO Group
company
The GEO Group is a publicly traded private prison and detention company that contracts with federal, state, and local governments to operate correctional and immigration detention facilities. It is one of the largest private detention operators in the United States, with facilities housing tens of thousands of people. In 2025-26, GEO Group's immigration detention contracts expanded significantly as ICE enforcement operations intensified and detention populations grew.
Entries involving this actor (7)
ICE transfers most Delaney Hall hunger strikers out of Newark jail in apparent retaliation
As a hunger and labor strike at Newark's Delaney Hall ICE jail entered its third week, immigrant-rights advocates said most of the hunger strikers had been transferred out of the GEO Group-run facility to other ICE jails in apparent retaliation for the protest. The strike, which began May 22 and was initially led by an estimated 300 detainees, centers on demands that include firing a female guard accused of sexually assaulting at least 10 detained women. Human Rights Watch and the ACLU have separately documented retaliatory transfers, the use of force, and abysmal conditions at the facility.
GEO Group cancels Delaney Hall family visits, bars Sen. Kim from speaking with detainees
On Saturday, June 6, 2026, GEO Group — the private contractor operating ICE's Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark — canceled the day's family visitation, turning away spouses and children at the gate, according to Mother Jones. U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), conducting a congressional oversight visit, was admitted but told that if he spoke with any detainee the tour would be terminated immediately. Kim reported seeing a woman curled up in visible medical distress in a women's housing unit, more than two weeks into detainees' hunger and labor strike over conditions, and said guards would not answer his questions about her.
ICE and GEO Group use pepper spray and force against hunger-striking Delaney Hall detainees
Beginning around May 22, 2026, hundreds of immigrants held at the GEO Group-run Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, launched a hunger and labor strike over conditions including spoiled food, scalding showers, and denial of medical care. As the strike continued, staff retaliated by transferring strike leaders, suspending family visitation, and, on May 28, using pepper spray, batons, and rubber projectiles against detainees in an enclosed dining hall, injuring several. White House border czar Tom Homan publicly raised the prospect of court-ordered force-feeding, while the Department of Homeland Security denied that any hunger strike was occurring.
Detainees launch hunger strike over conditions at GEO Group-run Adelanto ICE complex
On May 19, 2026, at least 20 immigrants detained at the Desert View Annex — one of three facilities in the GEO Group-operated Adelanto ICE complex in Southern California — launched a hunger strike to protest custodial conditions, citing medical neglect, shrinking food portions, unsafe water, overcrowding, and retaliation against detainees who speak out. Their demands include due process and bond reform, adequate medical and mental-health care, nutritious food, accountability for deaths in custody, and the right to organize. The Department of Homeland Security denied that any hunger strike is taking place.
José Guadalupe Ramos-Solano dies in ICE custody at GEO Group-run Adelanto facility
José Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, a 45-year-old Mexican national, was found unconscious in his bunk and pronounced dead on March 25, 2026, while detained at the GEO Group-operated Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California. Other detainees said he had complained of overheating and difficulty breathing hours earlier and that staff did not respond until he was unresponsive. His death was the 14th known death in ICE custody in 2026 and at least the fourth at the Adelanto complex since 2025, prompting Mexico's Los Angeles consulate and two members of Congress to demand an investigation.
Lawmakers demand investigation after Nenko Gantchev found unresponsive and dies at newly expanded North Lake ICE facility
Nenko Stanev Gantchev, a 56-year-old Bulgarian national, was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead on December 15, 2025 at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, operated by the GEO Group. ICE described the cause as "suspected natural causes" pending investigation. His death was the fourth ICE custody death in four days that month, prompting Democratic lawmakers to formally demand a federal investigation into medical care and oversight failures at the facility.
Family demands independent autopsy after Jean Wilson Brutus, 41, dies within a day of entering Delaney Hall
Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian national, died on December 12, 2025, at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey — roughly one day after entering ICE custody at the GEO Group-operated Delaney Hall Detention Facility. ICE reported he showed no signs of distress at intake and listed the cause of death as "unknown." His family and advocates sought an independent autopsy and called for the facility's closure; Brutus was believed to be the first detainee to die at Delaney Hall since it opened in May 2025.