GEO Group Settles Aurora Detainee Forced-Labor Class Action Over $1-a-Day Work, Vacating Jury Trial

GEO Group and a class of former detainees at the Denver Contract Detention Facility announced a settlement Monday morning, vacating a trial that would have asked a jury to weigh claims that GEO violated federal law by requiring detainees to work for $1 per day, Courthouse News reported. The details of the settlement were not disclosed and need to be approved by the judge. GEO runs the facility in Aurora, Colorado, for ICE.

In its defense, GEO said it was following orders from ICE and Congress, which directed contractors to implement a voluntary work program. The case, filed in 2014, has been up to the 10th Circuit several times, with the appellate court affirming the detainee’s ability to bring a class action and rejecting GEO’s bid for qualified immunity. GEO filed a new appeal on Oct. 23, but the trial judge declined to call off the trial. Related canon on the Aurora facility: 2026-08-20–federal-judge-blocks-colorado-health-inspection-authority-geo-aurora.