Menocal v. Geo Group

Outten & Golden and Towards Justice serve as class counsel in this landmark case, filed in 2014 on behalf of tens of thousands of immigrant detainees at the GEO Group’s 1,500-bed Aurora, Colorado ICE Processing Center.

The plaintiffs allege that GEO—one of the world’s largest private prison operators—forced civil detainees to clean and maintain the facility under threat of solitary confinement, in violation of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and was unjustly enriched by paying detainees just $1 per day.

In 2018, Outten & Golden defeated GEO’s appeal of class certification in the Tenth Circuit.

In 2022, Senior District Judge Kane granted plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment rejecting GEO’s defense that it was following ICE’s directions. In February 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, holding that this is a merits defense not subject to interlocutory appeal—a precedent with significant implications for corporate accountability in the private detention industry.

The case is now proceeding toward trial.