DoJ Challenges California State For Prohibition Of Private Detention Facilities

The U.S. Department of Justice has moved the court challenging California state law A.B. 32, which prohibits operating private detention facilities in the state.

DOJ filed law suit in the District Court in Southern District of California against California Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and the State of California.

California recently passed Assembly Bill 32, which bans the operation of private detention facilities in California after January 1, 2020.

The DOJ complaint says that under the new law, prisoners and detainees currently housed in private facilities in California will have to be relocated at great cost, potentially isolating prisoners and detainees from their families and causing overcrowding in neighboring states.

The new law will require USMS to relocate nearly 50 percent of its inmates in the Southern District of California and nearly 30 percent of its total California inmates to out-of-state facilities.

A.B. 32 will also require frequent and costly transportation of prisoners and detainees. For USMS, pretrial inmates will have to be frequently transported to and from California to meet the demands of courts, defense attorneys, and any pretrial or probationary requirements.

And for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), any aliens apprehended in California will have to be transported to out-of-state facilities using costly air or ground transportation. ICE currently has about 45,000 aliens in its custody in California.

These transportation requirements will heighten security concerns and may delay federal proceedings, DOJ pointed out.

The Justice Department has also moved to enjoin the enforcement of A.B. 32 against the federal government and its contractors.

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