Feds press effort to end California private prison ban

The federal government is moving aggressively to end the California law that phases out private prisons and immigration detention centers.

The U.S. Department of Justice last week filed a motion to stop the state from continuing to implement AB 32, less than two weeks after it sued Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra over the matter in January. The department’s lawsuit contends that the ban is unconstitutional and interferes with the federal prison and immigration detention system.

The department will argue its case for preliminary and permanent injunction on April 23 in federal court in San Diego.

“California, of course, is free to decide that it will no longer use private detention facilities for its own state prisoners and detainees,” the Justice Department says in its Feb. 5 motion. “But it cannot dictate that choice for the United States, especially in a manner that discriminates against the Federal Government and its contractors.”

The GEO Group, a private prison company that owns and operates one immigration detention center in the Mojave desert and another in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley, also sued the state in late December, alleging the law undermines the federal government's ability to detain people in California as part of federal immigration proceedings. The company will argue its motion for preliminary injunction, and the state its motion to dismiss the case, during the same court hearing on April 23.

The state of California, meanwhile, stands by the law, which generally prohibits the private operation of prisons and immigration detention facilities in the state as of Jan. 1, 2020. The legislation makes some exceptions: It allows for-profit companies to operate facilities for government agencies as long as the contract was in effect before Jan. 1, but it bars extensions of those agreements.

“Corporations shouldn’t be able to imprison human beings for profit,” Vicky Waters, Newsom’s press secretary, said in a statement. Private prisons and detention facilities, she said, contribute to over-incarceration, “run contrary to our values and have no places in California. We won’t back down in defending our laws.”

The U.S. Marshals Services, the Bureau of Prisons and Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract with private detention facilities in California to house about 7,000 prisoners and detainees, according to the Justice Department. Private detention facilities account for almost 25% of housing for federal prisoners and detainees in California, it says.

If AB 32 stands, the three federal agencies “would be imminently and irreparably harmed,” the department says. The public would be hurt, too, it argues, because prisoners and detainees would need to be relocated to facilities outside California, increasing transportation costs for the federal agencies and delaying federal court proceedings.

The Justice Department is also concerned that if the law remains intact, “other states could be emboldened to impose similar restraints.” Legislators in Washington and Maryland recently introduced legislation that would ban new state and local contracts with for-profit immigration detention companies.

“This could in turn create a ‘patchwork’ system of laws, severely undermining both the United States’ ability to provide for those in its custody,” the Justice Department says.

Assemblymember Rob Bonta, a Democrat who represents Alameda and parts of Oakland and author of AB 32, said the law doesn't target the federal government. Rather, it focuses on private, for-profit prison companies which, he said, prioritize profit maximization over the health and safety of inmates and detainees.

"They're continuing to do what they do, which is bring a fight in California and attack our values," he said of the federal government. "We're not looking for fights, but we will defend ourselves and stand up for our values."

California’s battle with the federal government over private prisons and immigration detention facilities has been heating up for months.

Newsom signed AB 32 on Oct. 11. On Dec. 19, less than two weeks before the law took effect, ICE inked long-term contracts worth several billion dollars with the existing operators of the state’s four private immigration detention centers.

Democratic members of California’s congressional delegation, other state leaders and immigration advocates have slammed ICE, alleging the federal agency dodged AB 32 by rushing to lock in last-minute contracts for GEO, CoreCivic and Management & Training Corp.

The issue is now playing out in local communities, as Planning Commissions in the cities of Adelanto and McFarland consider GEO's proposal to expand its detention centers by incorporating beds at its nearby state prisons.

Rebecca Plevin reports on immigration for The Desert Sun. Reach her at rebecca.plevin@desertsun.com. Follow her on Twitter at @rebeccaplevin.