U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lowered detention standards at the Northwest ICE Processing Center under a new short term contract , even as newly released internal records reveal more than 170 reported incidents of sexual abuse and assault occurred there over a roughly ten-year period, according to a new report by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights.  Researchers found ICE and GEO Group, the private company that owns and operates the facility, ignored key evidence when conducting internal investigations, failed to incorporate federally mandated preventative measures and did not report crimes to law enforcement.  The findings come as the Tacoma immigration detention center is under likely the weakest standards ever applied to the facility since its opening in 2004, researchers said. In late March, ICE issued a seven-month “bridge” contract to GEO Group set to run until Oct. 27 while the federal agency determines future plans for the facility.…