A private prison company has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new California law that mandates civil rights protections, including medical care and privacy, for individuals detained by federal immigration authorities.
GEO Group, a for-profit prison operator, lodged a complaint in federal court contesting Senate Bill 942, also known as the Civil Detainees’ Bill of Rights Act of 2026. The legislation requires that immigrant and other detainees be provided with privacy, safety, hygienic living conditions, and other fundamental rights.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law last week as part of a broader legislative effort to counter federal immigration enforcement policies, which the governor has characterized as "Orwellian." GEO Group submitted its lawsuit the day after the bill's enactment.
SB 942 establishes that detainees in state, local, and privately operated facilities are entitled to medical, dental, and mental health care; access to physical exercise; clean drinking water; and functioning sanitation facilities, among other rights. The law empowers the state attorney general to initiate civil actions against entities found to be in violation of these rights.
Attorneys for GEO Group contend in their federal complaint that while California officials may disagree with federal immigration policy, the state cannot impose its preferred detention standards on federal operations, irrespective of whether those standards aim to tighten, loosen, or alter the existing federal framework.
According to its corporate website, GEO Group operates six detention facilities within California, four of which house detainees under contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This includes a previously closed state prison that began accommodating ICE detainees earlier this year. The company has a history of successfully challenging legislation impacting the private prison industry's role in federal immigration enforcement; a federal court previously invalidated a 2019 law that sought to prohibit private detention facilities in the state after GEO Group filed a similar lawsuit.
