California’s ban on private immigrant detention centers has been entirely struck down by the United States Court of Appeals, after an ongoing lawsuit against the ban in 2020 brought by the Biden administration and a private prison operator GRO Group. The Nineth Circuit communicated that the California ban allocated too much control over federal government operations and how they handle detainees. The court clarified that the law, AB 32, has made it illegal for any private company to operate a California detention facility, and if it remains in standing, detention centers would have to be shut down. To elaborate, it was stated that the government exclusively relies on GEO Group operated detention centers, and about 80% of immigrants awaiting deportation hearings are held in these facilities. In turn, the court declared that the state of California does not have the right to interfere with these operations. While Biden stated that he wanted to abolish all private detention centers for the purpose of housing immigrants, he did not mention that their detaining restricted the government’s dependance on private criminal prisons.
A Nationwide Immigration Practice