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<\/p>\nCalifornia state Sen. Sasha Renee Perez (D-Pasadena) announced Friday new legislation that will institute fines and suspend or revoke state issued licenses to immigration detention facilities when they fail to meet minimum health and safety standards.<\/p>\n
The proposed law \u2014 SB 995 \u2014 aims to empower state authorities by ensuring that private detention centers comply with state health and safety standards through inspections. <\/p>\n
The detention center operators would be required to correct any deficiencies identified by inspectors or face a civil penalty up to $25,000 a day for each violation. Operators could also risk having their state-issued licenses suspended or revoked.<\/p>\n
Though the law would apply to juvenile halls, state hospitals and secure treatment centers, it is the growing number of immigration detention centers facing allegations of inhumane conditions that prompted the proposed legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis legislation is grounded in a simple principle: If detention centers operate in California, they must meet California standards for safety, dignity and human rights,\u201d Perez said. \u201cIn California we will not allow people to suffer behind closed doors without oversight, without transparency and without justice.\u201d <\/p>\n
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Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), chair emerita of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, conducts a news conference during the House Democrats\u2019 2026 Issues Conference at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va., on Feb. 26.<\/p>\n
(Tom Williams \/ CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
In a report released last year<\/a>, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta reviewed six private immigration detention facilities in the state and found serious deficiencies, including inadequate medical and mental health care, inadequate suicide prevention protocols, a lack of transparency regarding use-of-force practices, and due process rights violations including access to legal counsel.<\/p>\n Perez and immigrant rights groups say these issues have persisted, if not worsened, despite federal inspections conducted under Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n There are at least six immigration detention facilities in California, some of which were closed but reopened to meet a surge in immigration detainees as President Trump carried out mass deportations.<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, who has inspected facilities across the country, said what the Trump administration has been doing at detention centers is \u201cvile, abhorrent and totally unacceptable.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cAnd what I\u2019ve seen are denials of basic necessities, denials of medications; in fact, no matter what the condition the detainee faces they\u2019re prescribed ibuprofen,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about profit because these private prison facilities make a billion dollars per year, it\u2019s about cutting down on food, cutting down on medication, cutting down on any essential treatment, even cutting down on the temperature so they don\u2019t have to be able to provide the most basic level of comfort.\u201d <\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security could not immediately be reached for comment. <\/p>\n There are currently 68,289 immigrants in detention centers across the U.S. with at least 74% of detainees having no criminal convictions, according to TRAC<\/a>, a data research organization.<\/p>\n Many of those with convictions are for minor offenses, including traffic violations.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said about 70% of people<\/a> whom the agency has arrested have been convicted or charged with a crime in the United States.<\/p>\n In the first nine months of the administration\u2019s immigration crackdown,<\/a> from Jan. 1 to Oct. 15, a Times analysis of nationwide ICE arrests found that percentage to be about the same.<\/p>\n In Los Angeles, the same analyses found that of the more than 10,000 Los Angeles residents who were arrested in immigration operations, about 45% were charged with a criminal conviction and an additional 14% had pending charges.<\/p>\n Cars are in the parking lot at a private prison in California City as CoreCivic has begun \u201cpreliminary activation\u201d of an immigration processing center.<\/p>\n (Claudia Elliott)<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s announcement comes as the Trump administration looks to increase the number of detention centers across the country.<\/p>\n But looming over the administration is the growing number of immigrants who have died while in the custody of federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n Last year, 33 people died while in the custody of ICE, according to detainee death reports<\/a> published by the Department of Homeland Security. Some deaths have occurred at facilities in California. <\/p>\n Perez said at least 10 people have died this year so far. <\/p>\n Among them is 48-year-old Alberto Gutierrez-Reye<\/a>s, a Mexican national, who was detained in January and sent to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. The father and husband died at a local hospital after repeated cries for help were ignored by the Adelanto staff, according to Chu and the man\u2019s family<\/a>.<\/p>\n It is the latest death to occurred at the facility. Last year, Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, and Gabriel Garcia-Aviles, 56,<\/a> both Mexican immigrants, died after falling ill at the facility. <\/p>\n The Adelanto facility is facing a federal class-action lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions. <\/p>\n A spokesperson for Geo Group Inc., which operates the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/p>\n SB 995 is named after Masuma Khan, an immigrant from Bangladesh and Eaton fire survivor<\/a> who was detained in October at the California City Detention Facility, a former prison in the Mojave Desert, some 67 miles east of Bakersfield.<\/p>\n The facility was the subject of a federal class-action lawsui<\/a>t filed by seven immigrants who alleged inhumane conditions and mistreatment.<\/p>\n![\"Cars](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772862621_750_.jpeg\")
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