Advocates, community push for Newsom signature on pair of detention center bills

Sofia Williams, The Sacramento Bee on Sep 8, 2026

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Over boxes of donuts and steaming coffee cups, faith leaders, immigrant rights advocates and community members gathered at the Capitol Tuesday morning to rally behind legislation that would impose financial penalties on private detention centers.

Greeting each other with hugs as they arrived, the group of several dozen individuals sported colorful t-shirts printed with slogans: “People + Faith + Love = Power,” read the rainbow text on one shirt. “#Health4All,” another proclaimed.

Attendees displayed signs reading “Keep Families Together” and “End Profit from Family Separation,” standing solemnly behind a podium on the Capitol steps as immigrant rights leaders and lawmakers gave speeches. Occasional prompts from the speakers led chants of “Si se puede” and “When we fight, we win” to ripple through the gathered crowd.

In their remarks, speakers urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign Assembly Bills 1633 and 2465. AB 1633, authored by Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, would impose a tax of 25% on private detention centers. AB 2465, authored by Assemblymember Liz Ortega, D-San Leandro, would prohibit companies that own private detention facilities from collecting tax credits and receiving state grants or loans.

AB 2465 creates a “Due Process for All” fund that finances immigration-related services and support for communities affected by detention centers. If the measure is signed into law, it would require the California state controller to transfer the tax money collected from private detention facilities into the fund.

If AB 1633 becomes law, the new taxes it authorizes on detention centers would also go toward the Due Process for All fund.

“We work hard every day, and we pay our taxes,” Ortega said. “We were not going to allow corporations who are aiding and abetting ICE to use our tax dollars against us. We said no more … Our taxpayers should not be forced to support this reign of terror.”

Haney said he authored AB 1633 in response to unsafe conditions in detention centers used by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

“Not only (are) ICE and the federal government assaulting our people, they’ve turned it into a business model,” Haney said during the rally. “They’ve turned it into a way to make billions of dollars in profits for their buddies, for their campaign contributors, who are willing to treat people as cruelly as they possibly can … it’s atrocious, and every single Californian, every single person with any shred of morality or humanity left should be ashamed that this is allowed to operate in our state.”

Haney said he witnessed “nightmare” conditions in Adelanto ICE Processing Center, a detention facility about 100 miles outside of Los Angeles, during a visit a few weeks prior to the rally.

“It’s one thing to read about these reports and the fact that (those detained) are being systematically denied medical care, that the food that they have, if they have access to food, is absolutely disgusting and not edible, that there are worms in the water … but it’s another thing to actually go inside those facilities,” Haney said.

Bruno Huizar, a supervising policy manager at the California Immigrant Policy Center, said the issue has affected him personally. As a teenager his family was permanently separated when his father was detained by ICE. Huizar said during the rally that he hopes the legislation will protect other families from the separation his family experienced.

“AB 1633 and AB 2465 are landmark bills that send a strong message: People over profit,” Huizar said. “Health and safety should always be prioritized over corporate profits. We urge Governor Newsom to sign these bills today and stand with immigrant families and communities, not with the corporations that are profiting and facilitating mass detentions and family separation.”

The Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Civic Empowerment and several labor and faith groups were also present at the rally. Timmy Lu, the executive director of AAPIs for Civic Empowerment, said he has seen the effects of ICE enforcement firsthand in his community.

“Both people in my community and people connected to my organization have been directly impacted by deportations and detentions,” Lu said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee. “We’ve had people picked up in their homes, their front yards, their workplaces.

Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto legislation.

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