LOS ANGELES, CA — As federal immigration raids ramp up across California, advocates are calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to take decisive action to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from repurposing shuttered state prisons as detention centers.
The advocacy coalition Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) is demanding that Newsom fully decommission all deactivated prisons in California and enact legal safeguards to prevent their transfer to federal control. The warning comes as reports surface of ICE agents touring shuttered facilities, including FCI Dublin, which was closed following a major sexual abuse scandal, and California City Correctional Facility, formerly operated by private prison giant GEO Group.
“ICE is looking for cages, and California’s shuttered prisons, still funded and fortified, are ideal targets unless Governor Newsom takes immediate action to close them for good,” said Brian Kaneda, Deputy Director of CURB, a statewide coalition of over 100 organizations supporting decarceration and justice reinvestment…