Legislation To Cancel Tax Breaks For ICE’s Corporate Profiteers Passes Senate Floor

• Nicholas Chan
• Communications Director, Office of Assemblymember Alex Lee
• (916) 319-2392
• [email protected]

Legislation authored by Assemblymembers Liz Ortega and Alex Lee to stop taxpayer dollars from subsidizing private ICE contractors has passed the Senate Floor. As corporations continue to aid and abet ICE's indiscriminate violence, AB 2465 will ensure that California does not spend public dollars to bankroll ICE's corporate profiteers. The bill is now headed to the Assembly Floor for a final vote.

AB 2465 advances through the Legislature at a time when corporations are raking in massive profits from ICE's mass detention campaign. The federal government is detaining people at record levels, with the majority of detainees locked up in for-profit detention centers. As of July, over 65,000 people were in ICE detention. In California, ICE holds an average of more than 6,000 people daily across eight detention centers, all of which are run by private prison operators.

"By doing business with ICE, private prison operators and tech oligarchs are profiting off of human death and suffering. They're locking up tens of thousands of people in modern day gulags, while masked agents violently kidnap innocent people without warrants and execute American citizens. ICE must be abolished and its rogue elements prosecuted," said Assemblymember Lee. "I'm proud to join forces with Assemblymember Ortega to author AB 2465. The bill ensures that public dollars are not enriching corporations that enable ICE's lawless violence. Corporate America must make a choice: collaborate with ICE and lose their tax breaks, or stand on the right side of history with the American public."

CoreCivic, one of California's private prison operators, grew its revenue by over 27% in the second quarter of 2026, compared to the same period last year. The firm also expects to make an estimated $1.6 billion in net proceeds from selling four of its detention centers to the federal government, including the California City and Otay Mesa facilities. GEO Group, another private prison company, reported a 15% increase in revenue and recently opened California's 8th immigration detention center.

As corporate executives boast skyrocketing revenues, detainees have repeatedly sounded the alarm of the inhumane conditions at detention camps. Since Trump's second term began, the mortality rate of ICE custody has soared by more than double and a growing number of detainees are dying by suicide. A new report by the California Department of Justice also documents the lack of adequate medical care and access to nutritious food in detention centers. In California City, people locked up in CoreCivic's detention facility have described it as "hell on earth" and "a torture chamber."

Meanwhile, ICE relies on a sprawling network of private contractors to surveil and arrest tens of thousands of innocent people. Data firm Palantir, for instance, has a $30 million contract to develop the software ImmigrationOS that tracks immigrants. Another software developed by Palantir maps out potential deportation targets and provides people's personal information. In 2026, ICE along with Customs and Border Protection awarded $513 million to companies that develop surveillance technology including Palantir, up from over $310 million in 2025.

AB 2465 withholds state tax credits, grants and loans from businesses that operate or invest in private detention facilities. The bill also deems entities that contract with private detention facilities or an agency engaging in immigration enforcement to be ineligible from state-funded grants and loans. If these businesses have a market capitalization of $150 billion or more, they will also be prohibited from claiming state tax credits. AB 2465 directs additional revenues generated to fund immigration services and programs.