AB 32

Recent Work –

• IDA files letter to 9th Circuit highlighting misrepresentations by GEO and the Federal Government

  • Federal government response to IDA letter, acknowledging misrepresentations 

• IDA & CCIJ Submit Letter Requesting OIG Investigation of AB 32 Contracts

• AB-32 Amicus Brief (9th Circuit) 

• AB-32 Amicus Brief (District Court)

• IDA’s oral statement to the court on AB 32

• Immigrant Defense Advocates and Immigrant Legal Defense to present Amicus Brief in AB 32 Litigation

• 55 California organizations call for state audit related to private prison contracts

• California Lawmakers Issue Letter Demanding Oversight of ICE Solicitation

AB 32 prohibits the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from entering into a contract or renewing a contract with a for-profit, private prison facility located in or outside of the state, on or after January 1, 2020, and completely phasing out their use by 2028. As amended on June 26, 2019, the bill extends the prohibition on for- profit, private prison to all forms of private detention in California, with some exceptions. The for profit ban extends to civil immigration detention.

The signing of AB 32 is not only a watershed moment for immigrant detention in the state but provides a model for the rest of the country as the most comprehensive ban on for profit detention nationwide. The legislation presents an opportunity to invest in a coordinated effort to provide universal representation to immigrants detained in facilities slated for closure (at present the rate of legal representation in these facilities mirrors the abysmal national average of 14%), as well as the facilities that remain open. It is also an opportunity to identify and mitigate the impacts of closure on detained individuals and their families, who are residents of the state of California.