The Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals has ruled that privately run prisons can remain open in California.
The court rejected a California law that banned private prisons. The ruling means U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can continue using for-profit detention centers in California to hold immigrants until they are released or deported. A lawsuit challenging the rule was brought by the Trump administration and GEO Group Inc., a company that operates two private immigration detention centers. The Biden administration pursued this lawsuit after Donald Trump left office, despite campaign promises by Biden that he would close privately run detention centers.
"California is committed to protecting the health and safety of all people, irrespective of whether they are in custody or civil detention," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Tuesday. "When we passed AB 32, we sent a clear message that putting an end to for-profit detention centers is key to achieving that goal. Prisons and detention centers shouldn't be places of profit."