A new Colorado law requiring frequent health and safety inspections at the state’s only ICE detention facility is preempted by federal law, the government contractor operating the facility argues.
The GEO Group Inc. is seeking to invalidate the law, saying federal immigration laws concerning the operation of immigrant detention facilities completely preempt the provision. Alternatively, the state law interferes with the GEO-ICE contract in violation of the US Constitution’s contracts clause, the complaint filed Monday in the US District Court for the District of Colorado said.
“The Supremacy Clause does not allow Colorado to obstruct the United States’ ability ...