Attorney General Bonta Sponsors Legislation Capping Commissary Prices at Immigration Detention Facilities

SB 941, authored by Senator Padilla and co-sponsored by Immigrant Defense Advocates and California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, advances out of committee

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced his co-sponsorship of Senate Bill (SB) 941, which would prohibit the excessive markup of products sold at immigration detention facilities. SB 941, authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) and co-sponsored by Immigrant Defense Advocates and California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, seeks to address the unjust and undue burden placed on detainees and their families to obtain basic necessities during their confinement. The importance of this legislation is underscored by the California Department of Justice's multi-year review and reports on conditions of confinement at immigration detention facilities across California, which have found substandard conditions such as unsafe food and water and failure to provide basic necessities, among other concerns.

"Under the Trump Administration, immigration enforcement has skyrocketed, while conditions at immigration detention facilities have continued to deteriorate," said Attorney General Rob Bonta. "My office has inspected these facilities, and we've received countless reports of insufficient clothing, food, and hygiene products being a devastating and unacceptable part of detainees' everyday realities. It also makes the affordability of commissary items all the more important. These basic necessities should not be a vehicle for private vendors to run up massive profits. I am proud to see this bill move forward, and grateful to my co-sponsors Immigrant Defense Advocates and California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice and author Senator Padilla for their advocacy."

"Mass ICE incarceration cannot be a green light for California corporations to fleece individuals caught up in that system," saidSenator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego). "During the hardest moments of their lives, detainees, including American citizens, are subjected to exorbitant price markups that line the pockets of corporations. I thank Attorney General Bonta for his support in this fight against California companies profiting from President Trump's war on our communities."

"Access to basic necessities is a human right, not a corporate luxury," said Hamid Yazdan Panah, Co-Executive Director of Immigrant Defense Advocates. "It is a moral failure when California families are forced to choose between providing clean water for a loved one in detention and putting food on their own table. SB 941 is a vital step toward ending this predatory profiteering."

"We have heard directly from impacted families: these exorbitant commissary prices are a cruel 'tax' on top of already deplorable conditions," said Lisa Knox, Co-Executive Director of California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. "Private corporations are exploiting a captive audience to line their pockets, and it is time for California to intervene. We must stop this cycle of exploitation and put an end to profiteering from hardship."

Arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have tripled in the last year under the Trump Administration. According to data compiled by the Data Deportation Project, there were 16,801 arrests made by ICE in California between January and September 2025. In contrast, the agency arrested roughly 5,600 individuals in California in all of 2024. It is important to note that those arrested are detained solely for civil immigration reasons, not criminal matters.

Individuals detained by ICE in California are held in private detention facilities. While these facilities are contracted by the federal government, the day-to-day conditions of confinement are controlled by personnel from the private entities operating the facilities. At issue in this bill are commissaries within these facilities that sell items such as food, drinking water, hygiene products, and clothing. Although intended to be supplemental, commissary items have become necessities due to poor conditions in these facilities. SB 941 extends California's existing commissary price protections to private detention facilities by prohibiting the sale of commissary items at prices exceeding a 35% markup above vendor cost.

Attorney General Bonta is committed to providing members of the public and policymakers with critical information about the conditions that people in civil immigration detention in California are subjected to. Since Assembly Bill 103 took effect, the California Department of Justice has published four reports on conditions at California's privately owned detention facilities that show substandard conditions in a number of areas that fail to meet ICE's own detention standards. And last year, Attorney General Bonta sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security shining a light on dangerous conditions at the recently opened California City Detention Facility.