Seattle, August 13 (RHC)-- In a victory for immigrant rights organizers in the United States, a federal judge in Washington state has certified a class-action lawsuit alleging systematic wage theft at GEO Group’s for-profit Northwest Detention Center. 

Detained immigrants are paid only $1 a day to work inside the facility.  Judge Robert Bryan’s ruling comes as GEO Group is facing increasing scrutiny over its role of profiting off detention and family separation. 

Earlier this week, the human rights group Dream Defenders held a national day of action to protest the for-profit prison company, which is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s largest contractor.  At least 16 actions took place in more than a dozen cities, including in Boca Raton, Florida, where more than 100 people protested outside of the GEO Group’s headquarters.