California’s Private Prison Ban Unlawfully Blocks Immigration Enforcement, Judge Rules
Texas October 8 2021 A California law designed to end the use of private prisons in the state was ruled unconstitutional on Tuesday after an appeals court decided it likely interferes with the federal government’s ability to enforce immigration law.
The bill, known as AB 32, was passed in 2019 and would have prohibited the state from entering or renewing contracts with private, for-profit prisons to incarcerate state inmates. After 2028, it would have prevented state inmates from “being incarcerated in a private, for-profit prison facility,” according to the bill’s text.
The 2-1 ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law impeded the federal government’s immigration policy because the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) relies on private detention centers in California to house undocumented immigrants. The decision was written by Judge Kenneth Lee, who was joined by Judge Bridget S. Bade.
“California’s law would thus compel the United States to shutter all ICE detention centers within the state,” the ruling read.
