The corrections corporation GEO Group filed a lawsuit Monday challenging a California bill that will ban for-profit prison contracts when it takes effect Wednesday.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego, challenges Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra. It alleges that the purpose of Assembly Bill 32 is to "undermine and eliminate the congressionally funded and approved enforcement of federal criminal and immigration law."
According to the lawsuit, AB 32 will affect 10 privately managed prison and immigrant detention facilities in California with nearly 11,000 total beds _ the vast majority of federal detention capacity. GEO Group manages seven of those facilities.
AB 32 prohibits new private detention contracts and changes to current ones. It phases out existing facilities entirely by 2028.
A GEO Group spokesperson said in a statement that it's unconstitutional for a state law to ban the operations of the federal government or its contractors.
"To be clear, we play no role in passing immigration laws and we have never taken a position on immigration policies, whether it be the length of stay at immigration processing centers or the outcome of immigration proceedings," the spokesperson said.
A spokeswoman for Newsom said his office will review the complaint.
"As our office has previously stated, for-profit prisons, including ICE-contracted facilities, run contrary to our values and have no place in California," said spokeswoman Vicky Waters. "Gov. Newsom signed AB 32 earlier this year to phase them out."
The lawsuit comes 10 days after federal officials signed contracts totaling nearly $6.5 billion with GEO Group and the two other companies that run California's four private immigrant detention centers. At the time, an ICE spokeswoman said those contracts were not affected by the limitations imposed by AB 32.
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