IDA sponsoring SB 941 (Padilla), legislation to limit profiteering in ICE detention facilities by capping commissary markups in private detention facilities operating in California. SB 941 would prohibit the sale price of items offered through a facility commissary—including onsite or online stores and third-party vendor programs—from exceeding a 35% markup above vendor cost. As Senator Padilla’s office notes, every ICE detainee in California is held in a private detention facility operated by a private corporation under federal contract, and commissary vendors can set prices with little meaningful oversight. SB 941 extends California’s existing prison commissary consumer protections to private detention facilities by applying the same 35% markup limit framework.
Bill info / summary: https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/news/senator-padilla-introduces-legislation-limiting-profiteering-ice-detention-facilities
Bill text (markup cap / definitions): https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB941
SB 941: Limiting Profiteering in Private Detention Facilities
Protecting people in detention and their families from excessive commissary prices
SB 941, authored by Senator Steve Padilla, passed the California Legislature in 2026 and was sent to the Governor for consideration. Sponsored by Immigrant Defense Advocates, the California Attorney General, and the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, the bill addresses excessive prices charged for basic goods at privately operated detention facilities.
People held in immigration detention often rely on facility commissaries for basic necessities, including food, drinking water, hygiene products, clothing, and other essential items. Because people in detention cannot simply shop elsewhere, high commissary prices place additional financial burdens on both detained individuals and the families supporting them.
SB 941 establishes a straightforward consumer protection: commissary items at private detention facilities may not be sold at prices exceeding a 35 percent markup above the amount paid to the vendor. The measure extends a similar protection already established for California state prison canteens to privately operated detention facilities.
Why SB 941 Was Needed
California oversight and advocacy organizations have documented significant markups on everyday goods sold inside private detention facilities.
Examples cited during consideration of SB 941 included a bar of soap marked up by 75 percent, ramen noodles by 100 percent, toothpaste by 139 percent, and canned tuna by 300 percent.
These costs matter because commissaries are not simply convenience stores. Reports concerning California detention facilities have documented problems involving access to food, drinking water, hygiene products, and other necessities. In that environment, people may depend on commissaries to supplement what facilities provide.
The financial burden frequently extends beyond the detention center. When someone is detained, their household may simultaneously lose income while taking on new expenses associated with detention, legal representation, telephone calls, travel, and commissary support.
What SB 941 Does
SB 941 creates consumer protections governing commissaries operated in private detention facilities.
The bill:
- Caps commissary markups at 35 percent above vendor cost.
- Applies to private detention facilities operating in California.
- Covers goods sold through detention-facility commissaries, including food, hygiene supplies and other items purchased by people in custody.
- Extends a consumer-protection model already used in California correctional facilities to private detention settings.
- Regulates the commercial practices of private companies operating in California without changing federal immigration detention or custody decisions.
Basic Necessities Should Not Become a Source of Excessive Profit
People held in immigration detention have little control over where they are confined or where they can purchase everyday necessities.
SB 941 responds to that imbalance by establishing limits on what private detention operators and commissary vendors can charge for goods sold to people in their custody.
For IDA, the legislation is part of broader work focused on the conditions people experience inside immigration detention and the impact detention has on entire families.
As IDA Co-Executive Director Jackie Gonzalez explained during the legislative process, families continue facing ordinary expenses such as rent, childcare, and household bills after losing the income of a detained family member, while also taking on new detention-related costs.
Addressing the Economics of Private Detention
Immigration detention does not only involve questions of custody and confinement. Private detention creates an economic system in which incarcerated people and their families may be charged for communications, food, hygiene products, and other necessities.
SB 941 establishes that California’s consumer protections can apply to commercial transactions taking place within privately operated detention facilities.
The legislation places a clear limit on commissary markups and establishes that confinement should not create an unchecked opportunity for excessive pricing.
SB 941 at a Glance
Author: Senator Steve Padilla
Sponsors: Immigrant Defense Advocates • California Attorney General • California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice
Status: Passed the Legislature; presented to the Governor
Key Protection: Caps private detention commissary markups at 35% above vendor cost
Issue Areas: Immigration Detention • Consumer Protection • Detention Conditions • Private Detention
