California Legislature Approves Legislation Limiting Profiteering in ICE Detention Facilities
SACRAMENTO – Today, with bipartisan support, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 941. Authored by California State Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego), the bill would prohibit the excessive markup of products sold at private detention facilities in California.
In California, every ICE detainee is held in a private detention facility operated by a private corporation on private property under contract with the federal government. California is currently home to seven such facilities, including two located within Senator Padilla’s district.
Commissaries at such facilities are often operated by third-party vendors that set prices without meaningful oversight. Reports from oversight and advocacy organizations document excessive pricing and inadequate access to basic necessities in private detention facility commissaries: a bar of Irish Spring soap was marked up by 75%, ramen noodles by 100%, Colgate Baking Soda and Peroxide by 139%, and canned tuna by 300%.
Last month, detainees at two ICE detention facilities in California, California City and Golden State Annex, held a boycott to protest increasing prices and gross profiteering at commissaries at these facilities.
“As families are ripped apart by Trump’s deportation machine, it is unconscionable that California companies hike up the price of basic goods to make a quick buck off the backs of detainees forced into inhumane conditions,” said Senator Padilla. “We cannot allow this corporate greed to continue unchecked. I stand with detainees and their families in the fight for basic human decency.”
SB 941 prohibits the sale of commissary items in private detention facilities at prices exceeding a 35 percent markup above vendor cost. This extends California’s existing commissary price protections, established under SB 474 (The BASIC Act), to ICE detention facilities.
SB 941 is sponsored by California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, the California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General, and Immigrant Defense Advocates.
“Private detention facility operators are failing to provide safe and humane living conditions, and detainees are paying the price. SB 941 would ensure that individuals at immigration detention facilities can access basic necessities — including clothes, food, and hygiene products—through commissaries without being overcharged,” said Attorney General Bonta. “I’m grateful to see this important bill pass through the Legislature, particularly as conditions at immigration detention facilities across California continue to deteriorate. It’s past time we prevent private vendors from running up massive profits while facility operators fail to meet detainees’ basic needs.”
“People held in immigration detention should not be forced to pay exorbitant prices just to buy basic necessities or stay connected with their loved ones,” said Hamid Yazdan Panah, the Co-Executive Director at Immigrant Defense Advocates. “SB 941 puts a commonsense limit on the profits detention operators and vendors can extract from people in their detention. California must place people over profits.”
To learn more about Senate Bill 941 and the unjust markups that detainees face within private detention facilities, click here.
SB 941 passed the Assembly by a bipartisan vote of 54 to 1 on Monday and the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 38 to 0. The bill now heads to Governor Newsom’s desk for his signature.
###
Steve Padilla represents the 18th Senate District, which includes the communities of Chula Vista, the Coachella Valley, Imperial Beach, the Imperial Valley, National City, and San Diego. Prior to his election to the Senate in 2022, Senator Padilla was the first person of color ever elected to city office in Chula Vista, the first Latino Mayor, and the first openly LGBT person to serve or be elected to city office. Website of Senator Steve Padilla: https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
