On October 23^rd, Kuya G, a Filipino father detained in Tacoma, WA at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC, aka Northwest ICE Processing Center, NWIPC), a for-profit immigration prison operated by the corporation GEO Group and overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had been suffering from medical violence at the facility with untreated ulcerative colitis. He was admitted to St. Joseph Medical Center (SJMC), a Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and CommonSpirit-owned hospital, when he developed a bone infection in his toe as a complication of not receiving adequate treatment for his condition for months. At SJMC, he was under constant surveillance by ICE-contracted security guards that kept him chained to the bed and interfered with his communication with healthcare professionals and community members. During his time at the hospital, we discovered that SJMC has a contract with the NWDC to treat detainees. This agreement allows ICE/GEO officers to sit in their rooms and act as liaisons for detainees admitted to the hospital for treatment. (Read more about Kuya G and sign his petition here: http://tinyurl.com/defendkuyagpetition)

The presence of ICE within the medical center continues to put health workers & professionals at risk and undermines their ability to treat patients. In late October 2025, a fully loaded firearm was found by a nurse unattended in the public restroom of Kuya G’s floor for 6-7 hours. In the case that ICE chooses to arrest staff, workers have been told by the hospital administration to “let it happen.” Health workers & professionals, especially migrants feel intimidated and fear violent arrest from ICE.

"The nurses allege that these agents have repeatedly ignored practices safeguarding patients’ privacy, health, and safety, including by refusing to leave detainees’ rooms during catheter changes, shackling a detainee so tightly to a bed they caused nerve damage to the person’s hand, and refusing to wear required masks and gowns in rooms where patients had communicable diseases." (Read more here: https://www.kuow.org/stories/ice-agents-often-ignore-safety-and-privacy-practices-for-detainee-patients-tacoma-nurses-say)

Thanks to national public outcry and the organizing of the Tanggol Migrante Movement, Kuya G has been released on a habeus corpus petition. The judge ruled that the medical violence Kuya G faced at NWDC violated his constitutional rights and that he must be released immediately. Though Kuya G is just one case, there are over 1500 people detained at NWDC facing the same conditions. As immigration detention is civil and not criminal, all detainees can be released to receive medical care without the need for contract and surveillance, and ultimately freed outright.

Our Demands

To St. Joseph Medical Center (SJMC), Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (VMFH) and its parent company CommonSpirit, specifically Andrew Baxter (Chief Nursing Officer at SJMC), Deepak Devasthali (President of SJMC), Julie Manas (President, VMFH and CommonSpirit Health, Northwest Region):

• Be transparent about your relationship with ICE, GEO Group, and the NWDC (aka NWIPC). Release the text of the contract.
• Meet the demands of public health workers & professionals. Ensure safety of patients and staff from detention by ICE, safeguard patient information, and do not allow ICE or GEO to interfere with patient care.
• ICE out of St. Joseph Medical Center!

To ICE, GEO Group, and the NWDC (aka NWIPC), specifically Cammilla Wamsley (ICE Field Director), George C. Zoley (Chairman and CEO of GEO Group), and Bruce Scott (NWIPC Facility Administrator):

• Allow unannounced, independent investigation of your facilities. Allow law makers to visit your facilities and detainees.
• Stop the medical malpractice and human rights abuses at NWDC. Do not delay treatment in hospitals.
• Allow all detainees to receive medical attention without surveillance.
• Release detainees for medical care.
• Free them all!

To the Philippine Consulate, specifically Henry Bensurto Jr. (Consul General of the Washington Philippine Consulate), and Bernice Santayana (Assistance to Nationals Officer):

• Protect Philippine nationals; ensure they have access to comprehensive medical care and humane living conditions.
• Provide Assistance to Nationals Funds to Filipinos in distress, including detained/formerly detained Filipinos like Kuya G.
• Bernice Santayana, resign now!

To Federal/State/Local Government, specifically Pramila Jayapal, Yasmin Trudeau, and Emily Randall:

• Investigate conditions of NWDC and SJMC and publicly report your findings.
• Shutdown all private detention centers.

Signatories

Malaya Tacoma
Philippines-US Solidarity Organization, Tacoma
Tanggol Migrante Movement
Defend Migrants Alliance