Abstract
The expanding literature on “crimmigration” law has turned academic attention toward the state of carceral immigration detention in the U.S. Immigration detention has increasingly become a private enterprise, which raises new concerns for immigrant rights and the political legitimacy of privatizing carceral institutions. California’s private detention centers have an alarming record of Constitutional violations, and detention corporations are seldom penalized for violating immigrants’ rights. In response, the California legislature passed AB 32 to ban private prisons and detention centers. In Geo Group v. Newsom (2020), the Ninth Circuit Court struck down the ban. Laws that dismantle private detention, such as AB 32, serve as the rational next step in Californian immigration reform. With Alternatives to Detention (ATD) programs, immigration activism, and California’s lessening reliance on detention, there is hope for a future restructuring of immigration procedures in the state.
Recommended Citation
Lager, Natalie
(2024)
"Privatized Immigration Detention in California and the Opportunity for Reform,"
Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science: Vol. 12
:
Iss.
1
, Article 7.
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/themis/vol12/iss1/7
