Washington’s Department of Health stands ready to inspect the state’s only immigrant detention center after a court ruling last month.

State inspectors for years have been pushing for access to the heavily scrutinized, 1,575-bed private facility in Tacoma known as the Northwest ICE Processing Center. But the private operator of the site and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have blocked them.

That could be just weeks away from changing.

“As soon as we are legally allowed to go in there, we will,” said Lauren Jenks, the Department of Health’s assistant secretary for environmental public health, who is among the agency staff who have been turned away trying to inspect the detention center during visits dating back to 2023.

The state and the detention center’s operator, Flo

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