Nye County NV — Terminated ICE contract over audit failures and funding gap
The Fight
Nye County held ICE detainees at the Nye County Detention Center in Pahrump under an IGSA from 2019 to November 2024. A failed federal audit, a medical provider crisis, and a growing gap between ICE payments and actual costs forced the county to end the deal. The county commission voted 5-0 to terminate on November 15, 2024. As of July 2025, Sheriff Joe McGill has stated the county has “no desire” to get back in with ICE.
Key Details
The financial trap:
- ICE paid ~$2M/year
- Actual costs rose from $6M (2020) to $8M (2024)
- County pulled $4M+/year from its general fund to cover the gap
- Former Commissioner Donna Cox: “I don’t think it’s to anybody’s advantage, except ICE”
The audit:
- Summer 2024: ICE unannounced inspection found serious deficiencies
- Dirty conditions (toilet paper on ceiling, repackaged medications, no potable water)
- Medical staff failed to follow up on abnormal vital signs
- Health records and medications not transferred when detainees moved
- Phones in housing units couldn’t make outgoing calls, blocking legal access
The medical crisis:
- County’s medical provider contract with Serenity Health fell through October 2024
- New contract would cost $2.2M — more than $360K increase
- With ICE only paying $2M total, the medical cost alone would exceed ICE revenue
Capacity: 75 ICE detainees among the facility’s 225 total beds; 60 ICE detainees at time of closure
Why It Matters
Nye County’s experience is a textbook case of the IGSA subsidy trap — small rural county lured by ICE revenue, ends up subsidizing federal immigration enforcement from its general fund. The audit findings (no potable water, blocked phone access) echo systemic conditions problems across the detention network. The 5-0 termination vote and the sheriff’s refusal to revive the deal suggest the county learned its lesson.
Sources
- ‘Are we subsidizing ICE?’: Nye County, ICE part ways (Nevada Independent, 2025)
- Nye County: ‘No desire’ to revive deal with ICE (Pahrump Valley Times, Jul 2025)
- Nye County terminates contract to hold immigration inmates (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 2024)
- 2024 Nye County Detention Center Inspection Report (ICE, May 2024)