If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Reform ‘Em: Expanding Oversight of Privately-Operated Immigrant Detention Centers

In October 2019, Governor Gavin Newsome of California signed a bill barring the state’s department of corrections from entering into or renewing contracts with private corporations to run state prisons and immigrant detention centers beginning January 1, 2020. Citing a lack of oversight and an improper weighing of profit maximization over livable conditions, California will completely ban the incarceration of inmates in privately-run facilities from 2028 onward. Of the 9,000 individuals currently detained in California’s privately-run facilities, approximately 4,000 are immigrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. Illinois, Nevada, and New York imposed bans similar to California’s. It is estimated that as many as seventy-three percent of immigration detainees are housed in privately-run facilities nationally. This means that the beneficial impact of this legislation will mostly be seen by immigrant communities.

If-You-Cant-Beat-Em-Reform-Em_-Expanding-Oversight-of-Private