The Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced SB 957 on Aug. 27, moving forward a bill that would direct the Attorney General to develop a statewide oversight plan for privately operated civil detention facilities.
At the hearing, the bill’s author said the measure, known as the Protecting Vulnerable Immigrant Detainees Model Act, would create a comprehensive oversight plan to better protect the health, safety and welfare of people held in those facilities. The author also said the bill would come with absorbable costs to the Department of Justice and the state entity designated to work with the attorney general.
Supporters including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, represented by Ronald Coleman-Biasa, said the measure would help create a long-term regulatory framework for inspections, compliance and enforcement. Coleman-Biasa said CHIRLA’s litigation team represents clients at the Adelanto detention facility, where detainees have described poor food service, medical neglect and other unsafe conditions.
The committee chair said a prior version of the idea, SB 995, had been held because funding had not been allocated in the budget, and said the panel was glad to move something in the space. The committee then sent SB 957 out on a due-pass recommendation in a B-roll call, with Mr. Hoover not voting.
The hearing record also noted that the federal government had been purchasing detention centers in California City, which supporters said underscored the need for a durable state oversight structure. As discussed at the hearing, the bill would direct the Attorney General’s Office to develop the plan rather than create an immediate inspection regime.
