California lawmakers pass bill banning private jails and some ICE detention centers

The state legislature of California passed a bill banning the use of private prisons and some detention centers run by the state's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). .

Legislators in the California State Assembly passed Bill 32 in a vote of 65-11 Wednesday, a day after the state Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of the bill. approval of the measure.

The bill, drafted by Assembly member Rob Bonta (D), aims to prevent the State Department of Corrections and Reintegration from entering into or renewing a contract with a private prison as of 2020 The legislation also seeks to prohibit the state from housing private for-profit penitentiary institutions after January 1, 2028.

This would also prevent California from sending prisoners to for-profit institutions outside the state.

However, under a recently added exception to the bill, the department would be allowed to renew or extend a contract to house inmates in state prisons "to comply with any court-imposed population limit" .

Bonta added that he had added an exception to increase the chances of the bill getting a green light from the government. Gavin NewsomGavin Christopher Newsom Legislator Passes Bill Banning the Use of Wild and Exotic Animals at Circuses The NCAA Urges the Governor of California Not to Sign a "Fair Deal" for University Athletes Hillicon Valley: Uber Promises to challenge California's labor law | Facebook, Google, Twitter to testify about mass shootings | Facebook's Balance will search for a Swiss payment license MORE (D), according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Bonta bill would also apply to for-profit detention centers run by ICE.

ICE declined to comment on California legislation but warned that state law could not bind "the hands of a federal law enforcement agency," according to NBC News.

"We are not commenting on pending legislation," said Bryan D. Cox, ICE's interim press officer, to the network. "But anyone with the impression that a state law in any way binds the hands of a federal agency responsible for law enforcement, which runs a national network of detention centers, would be a false impression. "

The bill is now heading to Newsom for review. Newsom, who expressed support for the phasing out of the use of private prisons, has until October 13 to sign or veto the measure.