Messages and chilling accounts from inside immigration detention facilities show urgent need for legislation to strengthen state oversight
LOS ANGELES – Recent accounts and first-hand messages from detainees inside private immigration facilities demonstrate the urgent need to pass SB 995, the Masuma Khan Justice Act, authored by Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena).
Community advocates with the Otay Mesa Detention Collective in San Diego have exposed the inhumane conditions being forced upon Californians who have no criminal record. The Collective’s advocates found notes attached to small hygiene bottles outside of Otay Mesa Detention Center from detainees requesting help and expressing concern over poor conditions inside the detention center.
In Altadena, longtime resident Masuma Khan, 64, was held in the California City Detention Facility in Kern County. Khan has lived in the United States for nearly 30 years with her husband and their daughter who are both U.S. citizens. Khan was detained by federal agents during one of her regular immigration check-in appointments. Khan was held in a cold, private detention facility without warm clothes, appropriate food, or access to vital medicine.
“We are hearing chilling first-hand accounts of the deplorable and inhumane conditions inside these private detention centers that are makings millions in profits through unacceptable human suffering. The accounts from brave individuals like Masuma Khan and the work of the Otay Mesa Detention Collective are vitally important to help every Californian see what’s been happening largely in secret,” said Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena). “My legislation will shine a light on these conditions by strengthening the state’s ability to conduct inspections, impose fines and shutdown the worst offenders.”
SB 995 would strengthen state oversight of private detention facilities. Under the legislation, California would exercise its state authority to impose fines of up to $25,000 per violation per day and suspend or revoke state-issued permits to operate if facilities fail to meet health, safety and labor standards, in the same manner the state conducts inspections of other involuntary residential facilities.
In a report released last year, the California Attorney General reviewed six private immigration detention facilities in California and found serious deficiencies, including inadequate medical and mental health care, inadequate suicide prevention protocols, a lack of transparency regarding use-of-force practices, and impacts to due process rights including the ability to access legal counsel. Many of these issues have persisted despite federal inspections conducted under ICE’s own Performance-Based National Detention Standards. Although counties have the authority to inspect detention facilities, three of the four California counties empowered to do so have not conducted inspections.
At present, California has an approximate 7,000 detention beds across all facilities which is poised to increase as some operators move to expand detention space at two facilities in Kern County. The Attorney General points out that increases in population levels will affect their ability to provide adequate health care and other essential services for detainees. The concerns could be further exacerbated by broader federal efforts to expand detention capacity by purchasing or converting large warehouses and other facilities to create new detention sites.
“Masuma Khan represents just one of the many people with no criminal history who have been targeted by the Trump Administration, and she was treated with cruelty rather than dignity in Core Civic’s private detention center. Her story underscores a deeper and alarming trend, as an unprecedented number of people died in detention last year, and this year could be worse, with eight deaths already reported in January alone. SB 995 ensures operators of detention facilities follow California’s health, safety and labor standards and allows us to hold these facilities accountable when they don’t,” said Senator Pérez.
“While I was detained at Core Civic's California City facility, I experienced fear and lasting trauma that no one should have to experience. I was not given vital medications, proper meals, and often, access to communicate with my family and attorneys. The lack of transparency and accountability at these facilities can only be prevented when third parties, including legislators and regulatory agencies, get fully involved. My family and I are very grateful for Senator Sasha Renée Pérez's advocacy and compassion for her constituents. She has been a fearless and kind leader we can trust to always stand up for our community,” said Masuma Khan, detained in private detention facility.
“I’m proud to stand with Senator Pérez today and an incredible coalition of advocates as we defend our immigrant neighbors and demand accountability and transparency from Trump and the privately run detention centers who profit off of people’s suffering. As Trump attempts to prevent oversight of these facilities, it is legislation like the Masuma Khan Justice Act that will ensure the facilities are inspected and accountable to the law,” said Representative Judy Chu (CA-28).
“I stand with my colleague in strong support of SB 995. This bill is a critical step to make sure private immigration detention facilities follow California’s health, safety, and labor standards. At a time when federal leaders and agencies are spewing harmful rhetoric and treating immigrant communities as disposable, California must continue to stand on the side of dignity, accountability, and basic human decency. Our values don’t stop at the door of a detention facility. Everyone deserves to be treated with humanity and respect, and this bill helps make sure those standards are actually enforced,” said Assemblymember Mark González (D-Los Angeles) and co-author of SB 995.
SB 995 is sponsored by MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Public Counsel, and the South Asian Network (SAN).
Joining the coalition in support of SB 995 is the California Community Foundation, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Southern California (AJSOCAL).
“California has every right—and every responsibility—to enforce basic health and safety standards in the buildings that operate within our borders. This bill regulates fire safety, sanitation, ventilation, and worker protections. It does not regulate immigration enforcement or detention operations. It simply ensures that every facility, no matter who runs it, meets the same basic protections for health, safety, and human dignity. That’s why it is fully constitutional and firmly within the state’s authority,” said Hector O. Villagra, MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) Vice President of Policy Advocacy and Community Education, co-sponsor of SB 995.
“We know all too well the inhumane conditions individuals are being exposed to every day in detention camps. For the past year especially, immigrant communities have lived under siege. Too many loved ones have disappeared into a detention system where abusive and illegal conditions are allowed to persist—and accountability has vanished. The Constitution does not allow the government to cage people in conditions that cause serious injury, worsening illness, and lasting trauma. That’s why CHIRLA is advancing SB 995. Detention must never mean the loss of basic human rights, compassion, and dignity,” said Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, (CHIRLA), co-sponsor of SB 995.
"South Asian Network (SAN) stands in solidarity with all communities impacted by the brutality of ICE and calls for the strengthening of state oversight of the ICE detention centers in California. SB 995 aspires to humanize the inhumane conditions in the ICE detention centers. SAN remains committed in its pursuit to end state violence and protect and defend the rights of our communities,” said Shakeel Syed, Executive Director at South Asian Network, co-sponsor of SB 995.
“Sen. Perez’s SB 995 is our mission in action. Public Counsel fights every day in the courts for people inside these facilities who are suffering and have no other recourse — but we shouldn't have to file lawsuit after lawsuit to ensure basic human rights are upheld. Accountability should be the rule, not the exception. Real change happens when legal advocates, community organizers, and lawmakers work together, and SB 995 is exactly that. We are the people's lawyers, and today we stand alongside our partners to send a clear message: people inside these facilities are not invisible, and their rights will be upheld,” said Kathryn Eidmann, President and CEO of Public Counsel, co-sponsor of SB 995.
“For over 110 years, the California Community Foundation has stood with our communities when they needed us most. Today, we call for immigrant justice and the protection of civil rights for all. At a time when our immigrant neighbors are being targeted and detained, we must be clear: cruelty and inhumanity cannot be normalized. Our vision at CCF is a good life for all, grounded in dignity for every person and a democracy that works for everyone. Supporting SB 995 is part of our commitment to defend immigrant communities and to defend the principles of democracy itself,” said Cielo Castro, Chief Impact Officer, California Community Foundation.
SB 995 will be considered in a Senate policy committee hearing this Spring.
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Senator Sasha Renée Pérez is Chair of the Senate Education Committee and represents the 25th Senate District that includes the communities of Glendale, Pasadena, Alhambra, Altadena, Arcadia, Claremont, Glendora, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta-Montrose, Monrovia, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, Temple City, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, and San Antonio Heights.