A bill to prevent the use of warehouses for private detention centers cleared its first hurdle Wednesday in the state legislature.
Senate Bill 1367 — introduced by Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) — aims to stop cities and counties from changing zoning laws to allow the construction of private detention centers. It would also block the conversion of existing buildings and warehouses for that purpose.
The bill passed the Senate Local Government Committee in a 5-2 vote and now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
During the hearing, Cervantes said warehouses are not designed for human habitation and that SB 1367 “builds on the state’s leadership in limiting detention expansion and moves us closer to a future rooted in dignity, safety and accountability.”
“Our society must confront the fact that inhumane private detention facilities prioritize profit over human suffering,” Cervantes said.
Hector Pereyra, policy manager with the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, told KVCR before the hearing that he is concerned the Trump administration is looking for places to detain immigrants in the Inland Empire.
Seven detention centers in California currently contract with private prison companies, according to a fact sheet from Cervantes’ office. Pereyra said existing facilities like the Adelanto ICE Processing Center near Victorville show that privately run detention centers have a notorious track record “for inhumane conditions and systemic human rights violations.”
“We have hundreds and hundreds of warehouses in our region, many of them sitting vacant,” Pereyra said. “We do not need private immigrant detention centers in neighborhoods.”
DHS did not comment directly on the bill, but said in a statement that it plans to work with officials on both sides of the aisle to expand detention space.
“Governor Newsom’s reckless sanctuary policies have made California a hot bed for illegal alien criminals,” the statement reads. “The stories of the victims and facts speak for themselves.”
No one spoke in opposition to SB 1367 during Wednesday’s hearing, though the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office has submitted opposition to the bill.
