Detention centers are charging up to 300% more for basic needs items. This bill will stop that

A new bill in the state Legislature would curb excessive prices for everyday products available in private detention facilities. 

California has eight (primarily privately-owned) detention centers that work with the federal government to house thousands of immigrants. The private corporations that run the centers are able to price everyday products, including soap and food, at whatever price they want. Reports have found basic necessities are being marked up by up to 300% in some cases. Senate Bill 941 would cap all prices at a 35% vendor markup. 

“California corporations are profiting off of families during the hardest moments of their lives, while detainees, who include U.S. citizens, are subjected to horrendous conditions,” said bill author Sen. Steve Padilla (D-Chula Vista) in a statement. “Corporations are using President Trump’s mass incarceration spree to exploit working-class families. We cannot allow this kind of opportunistic profiteering to continue unchecked.”

Last week the Senate passed SB 941 with a 38-0 vote, with a majority of Republicans supporting the bill. Two Republicans, Marie Alvarado-Gil of Modesto and Brian Jones of San Diego, did not cast a vote, according to the CalMatters Digital Democracy database. The bill now moves on to the Assembly.

The rare bipartisan support highlights the severity of the issue in these facilities. 

While in the centers, individuals are able to purchase certain items that are not already provided through what is known as a commissary. These items include seasoning, toiletries, basic hygiene products and more.

Padilla pointed to reports that found a bar of soap was marked up by 75%, ramen noodles by 100% and a tin of canned tuna was up-charged 300%.

By prohibiting the sale of commissary items at prices exceeding a 35% markup, SB 941 builds on another state law, SB 474, which was passed in 2023 to stop price gouging in the state’s prisons.

Padilla’s bill has some expected supporters, including Smart Justice California and the ACLU.

“When detained, people have no other way to procure what they need. It's easy for companies to economically exploit them,” said Elena Vermullen, an immigration attorney at the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice during a March 17 Senate Public Safety Committee hearing. “Inflated commissary prices force additional expenses on already vulnerable Californian families.”

Vermullen detailed the experience of a client in the Imperial Regional Detention Facility who has been struggling to afford basic hygiene products including deodorant and floss. Health care items like band-aids and anti-infection cream are only provided when medical units are requested, which can often take days to process, according to Vermullen’s client.

Individuals are only paid $1 a day for working in the facilities, while the vast majority of products they may need are exorbitantly priced. According to Vermullen’s testimony, it takes four days to save up for deodorant and seven days to save up for a six-ounce jar of peanut butter.

Perhaps unexpectedly, SB 941 also has support from the Riverside Sheriffs’ Association, according to Digital Democracy. The group is widely conservative and often supports tough-on-crime lawmakers and legislation.

“[Private prisons] have a well-documented history of cutting corners and overcharging to meet their financial goals - this includes overly-inflated commissary prices,” reads an April letter of support from the Association to the Senate Committee on Judiciary. “Private, for-profit prison/detention corporations tarnish the good work of dedicated correctional officers and their associations which seek to improve the safety and standards in our state’s prisons and jails.”

The bill is further co-sponsored by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has pointed to “substandard conditions” in detention facilities across the state.

“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,” Bonta said in a statement. “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…”