Legislation Limiting Profiteering in ICE Detention Facilities Advances in State Senate
SACRAMENTO – Today, the Senate Public Safety Committee approved Senate Bill 941, authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego). The bill would prohibit the practice of excessive markup of products sold at ICE detention facilities.
“We cannot allow California corporations to take advantage of families during the hardest moments of their lives,” said Senator Padilla. “Detainees, who include US citizens, are subjected to horrific conditions at the hands of corporations partaking in opportunistic profiteering. We cannot allow corporations to continue exploiting working-class families under the guise of President Trump’s mass incarceration spree.”
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.
Recently, San Diego County filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security after county officials were denied access to Otay Mesa Detention Center for a public health inspection. Senator Alex Padilla, San Diego County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Paloma Aguirre, and county health officials arrived at Otay Mesa to conduct inspections after receiving reports of untreated medical conditions, freezing temperatures, and contaminated food inside the facility. Upon their arrival, despite having received all necessary clearance in advance, Senator Alex Padilla and both supervisors were denied entry to the facility by ICE officials.
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%.
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.
"No family should be forced to choose between staying connected to a loved one and putting food on the table. California has a duty to shield families from the predatory greed of for-profit detention facilities,” said Edwin Camona-Cruz, Co-Executive Director of California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. “We must put an end to this cycle of exploitation once and for all."
“SB 941 would respond to the corporate exploitation of California families by limiting the egregious markup on items sold in immigration detention commissary. Without any regulation, immigrants in California are detained without consistent access to essentials like soap,” said Elaina Jung Hee Vermeulen, Immigration Attorney at California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. “They must rely on funds sent from their families who are already struggling or the $1 a day they earn working in the facility. When detained people have no other option to procure the items they need, it's easy for companies to economically exploit our immigrant community member."
“Under the Trump Administration, immigration enforcement has skyrocketed, while conditions at immigration detention facilities have continued to deteriorate,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “My office has inspected these facilities, and we’ve received countless reports of insufficient clothing, food, and hygiene products being a devastating and unacceptable part of detainees' everyday reality. It also makes the affordability of commissary items all the more important. These basic necessities should not be a vehicle for private vendors to run up massive profits. I am proud to see this bill move forward, and grateful to my co-sponsors Immigrant Defense Advocates and California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice and author Senator Padilla for their advocacy."
"Price gouging is always a violation of the public trust, but when it targets people trapped in substandard conditions, it becomes a moral crisis,” said Jackie Gonzalez, Co-Executive Director of Immigrant Defense Advocates. “Forcing families to pay premium prices for basic necessities like clean water isn't just a policy failure—it is a predatory exploitation of human suffering. SB 941 recognizes that basic dignity is not a commodity, and it is the essential first step in holding these for-profit corporations accountable."
To learn more about Senate Bill 941 and the unjust markups that detainees face within private detention facilities, click here.
Senate Bill 941 passed the Senate Public Safety Committee today by a vote of 6 to 0, and now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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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/