SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As immigrant detention populations surge across California and state inspectors document worsening conditions inside detention facilities, the California Assembly has advanced legislation that would strip certain tax benefits from companies contracting with federal immigration enforcement agencies.
Advocates argue the measure responds to the rapid expansion of immigrant detention operations in California and growing concerns about conditions inside detention facilities.
Assembly Bill 1675, titled the No Tax Breaks for ICE Contractors Act, has been approved by the California Assembly and now moves to the California Senate for consideration.
Sponsored by Assemblymember Alex Lee, the bill proposes denying certain state tax incentives to corporations contracting with the Department of Homeland Security and its immigration enforcement division. The legislation also includes provisions creating a California Immigrant Resilience Fund aimed at supporting immigrant legal aid services.
The legislation was introduced amid the ongoing expansion of immigration detention capacity in California, according to the latest report released by the California Department of Justice following its fifth annual inspection of immigration detention facilities.
According to the report, the number of detainees placed in California immigrant detention centers rose significantly, from about 2,300 detainees in 2023 to more than 6,000 in 2025, representing growth of approximately 162%. The review found extensive overcrowding, shortages of medical care, delays in treatment, poor food quality, understaffing and deteriorating housing conditions in multiple detention facilities.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said detention facilities were operating in “cruel, inhumane, and unacceptable” conditions and were unable to comply with even minimal requirements established by ICE.
In total, investigators recorded six deaths among immigrants detained in California immigration detention centers from September 2025 through March 2026, marking the largest spike in mortality observed since the annual detention inspection program began.
Several privately operated detention facilities in California, including CoreCivic and GEO Group, have experienced large increases in detainee populations while struggling to provide necessary medical services.
State inspectors reported that immigrants faced extended delays in obtaining medications, small food portions, overcrowded rooms and an inability to access necessary specialty medical treatment.
Meanwhile, operators of immigration detention facilities continue expanding their footprint across California.
A newly established detention facility began operating in California City in 2025 with more than 10,000 available beds, and a second facility in McFarland recently started housing ICE detainees.
It was also revealed that the federal government continues evaluating additional options for expanding immigration detention capacity in Northern California.
Proponents of the legislation argue that California residents should not subsidize companies that benefit from immigrant detention and deportation operations.
According to legislative documentation, companies working with federal immigration agencies would lose eligibility for various forms of tax breaks provided by the state of California.
It should be noted that recent polling has shown a high level of distrust among Americans toward ICE.
According to the latest poll conducted by YouGov and The Economist, nearly half of participants supported abolishing the organization.
Critics note that the expansion of immigration detention and deportation operations generates substantial revenue for companies working with federal authorities.
CoreCivic reported a significant increase in income generated by immigration detention operations in 2025 amid the nationwide expansion of detention capacity.
However, inspections conducted by the California Department of Justice documented continued growth in detained immigrant populations under increasingly difficult conditions.
These developments have raised concerns among immigration advocacy groups, which contend that privately owned companies are generating significant profits from immigration detention contracts while conditions continue to deteriorate in facilities that state inspectors have repeatedly found fail to meet basic standards.
The debate surrounding this legislation extends beyond tax incentives for businesses.
Rather, advocates question the legitimacy of using taxpayer funds to support companies generating revenue from an immigration detention system that state inspection reports describe as overcrowded and incapable of guaranteeing minimum standards of safety and health care for immigrants.
As the bill moves through the California Legislature, policymakers will have to address a question advocates have increasingly raised in recent years: whether companies profiting from immigrant detention operations should continue receiving benefits from state-funded programs when official reports document worsening conditions inside detention centers operated by those companies.
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