BILL NUMBER: SB 1289 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 30, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 11, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lara
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Sections 1670.9 and 1670.91
Section 1670.9 to the Civil Code, relating to immigration.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1289, as amended, Lara. Law enforcement: immigration.
Existing law generally regulates formation and enforcement of
contracts, including what constitutes an unlawful contract. Under
existing law, a contract is unlawful if it is contrary to an express
provision of law, contrary to the policy of express law, though not
expressly prohibited, or otherwise contrary to good morals.
Existing law authorizes a county board of supervisors on behalf of
its sheriff, and a legislative body of a city on behalf of its chief
of police, to contract to provide supplemental law enforcement
services to private individuals, private entities, and private
corporations in specified circumstances and subject to certain
conditions.
This bill would prohibit a city, county, or a city and county, or
a local law enforcement agency from entering into or renewing a
contract, or modifying a contract to extend the length of the
contract, with a private corporation, contractor, or vendor to detain
immigrants in civil immigration proceedings for profit.
Existing law requires the Board of State and Community Corrections
to establish minimum standards for local correctional facilities, as
specified.
This bill would require a city, county, or city and county, or a
local law enforcement agency that chooses to enter into a contract to
detain immigrants in civil immigration proceedings to detain
immigrants only pursuant to a contract that requires the immigration
detention facility operator to adhere to specified standards.
Existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, provides that all
persons within the jurisdiction of California are free and equal no
matter their national origin, citizenship, or immigration status and
are entitled to full and equal accommodations, facilities, and
privileges in all business establishments of every kind. Persons
denied their rights under this act may obtain specified remedies,
including treble damages.
This bill would provide that an immigration detention facility
operator, as defined, an agent thereof, or a person acting on its
behalf, shall not deprive an immigrant detainee in civil immigration
proceedings of specified rights, including access to an attorney or
other authorized person, medical care, freedom from harm or
harassment, or privacy. The bill would require an immigration
detention facility to ensure appropriate medical treatment when a
detainee is transferred and prohibit involuntary placement of a
detainee in segregated housing because of his or her actual or
perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual
orientation. The bill would also require an immigration detention
facility to have a Legal Orientation Program, as specified, or other
similar program to provide comprehensive explanations about
immigration court procedure and other legal information to
unrepresented immigration detainees.
This bill would authorize the Attorney General or any district
attorney or city attorney to bring a civil action against an
immigration detention facility, an agent thereof, or a person acting
on its behalf that violates a detainee's rights, as specified. The
bill would also authorize a person who has been injured by a failure
to comply with these provisions, or with the Unruh Civil Rights Act,
to bring a civil action for damages, injunctive relief, and other
equitable relief.
The bill would provide that its provisions are severable.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) In keeping with its obligation to safeguard the humane and
just treatment of all individuals located in California, it is the
intent of the Legislature that this bill declare the state's
intolerance to profiting from the incarceration of Californians held
in immigration detention and its desire to ensure the just and humane
treatment of our most vulnerable populations.
(b) It is the further intent of the Legislature to ensure the
uniform treatment of individuals detained within immigration
detention facilities, operating in California, in a manner that meets
or exceeds the federal national standards and other applicable legal
requirements.
SEC. 2. Section 1670.9 is added to the Civil Code, to read:
1670.9. (a) A city, county, city and county, or a local law
enforcement agency shall not enter into or renew a contract, or
modify a contract to extend the length of the contract, with a
private corporation, contractor, or vendor to detain immigrants in
civil immigration proceedings for profit.
(b) If a city, county, city and county, or a local law enforcement
agency chooses to enter into a contract, renews a contract, or
modifies a contract to extend the length of the contract, to detain
immigrants in civil immigration proceedings, it shall detain
immigrants only pursuant to a contract that requires the immigration
detention facility operator to adhere to the standards for detaining
those individuals described in the 2011 Operations Manual ICE
Performance-Based National Detention Standards as corrected and
clarified in February 2013 and ICE Directive 11065.1 (Review of the
Use of Segregation for ICE Detainees).
(c) An immigration detention facility operator, an agent of an
immigration detention facility, or a person acting on behalf of an
immigration detention facility, shall not deprive any immigrant
detainee in civil immigration proceedings access to an attorney or
any other person authorized by the Board of Immigration Appeals under
Section 292.2 of Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations, access
to a translator or interpretation services, medical care, freedom
from harm or harassment, or privacy.
(1) Medical care includes, but is not limited to, HIV medication
and transition-related health care.
(2) Medical care shall not be denied or delayed on the basis that
the immigrant is likely to be released or deported.
(d) An immigration detention facility shall have a Legal
Orientation Program (as established by the Executive Office for
Immigration Review of the United States Department of Justice) or
similar program to provide comprehensive explanations about
immigration court procedure, along with other basic legal
information, to unrepresented immigrant detainees. The program shall
include an orientation on immigration removal proceedings and forms
of relief, distribute self-help materials, provide private,
individual consultations with unrepresented detainees to discuss
their cases, and referrals to pro bono legal services.
(e) When an immigrant detainee is transferred, the immigration
detention facility operator shall do all of the following:
(1) Ensure that all medical records of the detainee are promptly
transferred to ICE at the time of transfer, or promptly provided to
the facility to which the detainee is transferred.
(2) Ensure that all detainees receive all medications needed while
in transit.
(3) Ensure that a detainee's treatment plan is received by the
medical personnel at the facility to which the detainee is being
transferred.
(4) Ensure that there is no delay, disruption, or denial of
medical treatment after or before detainee transfer.
(f) An immigrant detainee shall not be involuntarily placed in
segregated housing in an immigration detention facility because of
his or her actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender
expression, or sexual orientation, as defined in Section 422.56 of
the Penal Code. Transgender and gender nonconforming immigrant
detainees shall be given the option to choose a housing placement
consistent with their gender identity.
(g) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an immigration
detention facility operator from exceeding the 2011 Operations Manual
ICE Performance-Based National Detention Standards as corrected and
clarified in February 2013 or ICE Directive 11065.1 (Review of the
Use of Segregation for ICE Detainees).
(h) If an immigration detention facility operator, or agent of an
immigration detention facility, or person acting on behalf of an
immigration detention facility, violates subdivision (c), (d), (e),
or (f), or the 2011 Operations Manual ICE Performance-Based National
Detention Standards as corrected and clarified in February 2013, or
ICE Directive 11065.1 (Review of Use of Segregation for ICE
Detainees), the following actions may be taken:
(1) The Attorney General, or any district attorney or city
attorney, may bring a civil action for injunctive and other
appropriate equitable relief in the name of the people of the State
of California. An action brought by the Attorney General, any
district attorney, or any city attorney may also seek a civil penalty
of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). If this civil penalty is
requested, it shall be assessed individually against each person who
is determined to have violated this section, and the penalty shall be
awarded to each individual who has been injured under this section.
(2) Any individual who has been injured by a failure to comply
with subdivisions (c), (d), (e), or (f), may bring a civil action for
damages, including, but not limited to, damages under Section 52,
injunctive relief, and other appropriate equitable relief, including
appropriate equitable and declaratory relief.
(i) An action brought pursuant to this section is independent of
any other action, remedy, or procedure that may be available to an
individual under any other provision of law.
(j) In addition to any damages, injunction, or other equitable
relief awarded in an action brought pursuant to subdivision (h), the
court may award the petitioner or plaintiff reasonable attorney's
fees and costs.
(k) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) "Immigration detention facility" means a facility where
immigrants are detained for civil immigration proceedings pursuant to
an agreement between a city, county, or city and county, or a law
enforcement agency and either of the following:
(A) The Department of Homeland Security or other federal agency.
(B) A private corporation, contractor, or private vendor.
(2) "Immigration detention facility operator" means an individual,
firm, corporation, association, partnership, joint venture,
commercial entity, municipality, commission, or political division of
the State of California that operates or owns an immigration
detention facility.
(3) "Segregated housing" means administrative segregation or
disciplinary segregation, as defined in the 2011 Operations Manual
ICE Performance-Based National Detention Standards as corrected and
clarified in February 2013, or any other act resulting in an
individual being segregated from the general population through
prolonged physical or social isolation for hours, days, weeks, or
years.
SEC. 3. Section 1670.91 is added to the Civil
Code, to read:
1670.91. (a) An immigration detention facility operator, an agent
of an immigration detention facility, or a person acting on behalf
of an immigration detention facility, shall not deprive any immigrant
detainee in civil immigration proceedings access to an attorney or
any other person authorized by the Board of Immigration Appeals under
Section 292.2 of Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations, access
to a translator or interpretation services, medical care, freedom
from harm or harassment, or privacy.
(1) Medical care includes, but is not limited to, HIV medication
and transition-related health care.
(2) Medical care shall not be denied or delayed on the basis that
the immigrant is likely to be released or deported.
(b) If an immigration detention facility operator, or agent of an
immigration detention facility, or person acting on behalf of an
immigration detention facility, violates subdivision (a), (h), (i),
or (j) or the 2011 Operations Manual ICE Performance-Based National
Detention Standards as corrected and clarified in February 2013, or
ICE Directive 11065.1 (Review of Use of Segregation for ICE
Detainees), the following actions may be taken:
(1) The Attorney General, or any district attorney or city
attorney, may bring a civil action for injunctive and other
appropriate equitable relief in the name of the people of the State
of California. An action brought by the Attorney General, any
district attorney, or any city attorney may also seek a civil penalty
of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). If this civil penalty is
requested, it shall be assessed individually against each person who
is determined to have violated this section, and the penalty shall be
awarded to each individual who has been injured under this section.
(2) Any individual who has been injured by a failure to comply
with subdivisions (a), (h), (i), or (j) may bring a civil action for
damages, including, but not limited to, damages under Section 52,
injunctive relief, and other appropriate equitable relief, including
appropriate equitable and declaratory relief.
(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an immigration
detention facility operator from exceeding the 2011 Operations Manual
ICE Performance-Based National Detention Standards as corrected and
clarified in February 2013 or ICE Directive 11065.1 (Review of the
Use of Segregation for ICE Detainees).
(d) An action brought pursuant to this section is independent of
any other action, remedy, or procedure that may be available to an
individual under any other provision of law.
(e) In addition to any damages, injunction, or other equitable
relief awarded in an action brought pursuant to subdivision (b), the
court may award the petitioner or plaintiff reasonable attorney's
fees and costs.
(f) For purposes of this section, "immigration detention facility"
means a facility where immigrants are detained for civil immigration
proceedings pursuant to an agreement between a city, county, or city
and county, or a law enforcement agency and either of the following:
(1) The Department of Homeland Security or other federal agency.
(2) A private corporation, contractor, or private vendor.
(g) For purposes of this section "immigration detention facility
operator" means an individual, firm, corporation, association,
partnership, joint venture, commercial entity, municipality,
commission, or political division of the State of California that
operates or owns an immigration detention facility.
(h) When an immigrant detainee is transferred, the immigration
detention facility operator shall do all of the following:
(1) Ensure that all medical records of the detainee are promptly
transferred to ICE at the time of transfer, or promptly provided to
the facility to which the detainee is transferred.
(2) Ensure that all detainees receive all medications needed while
in transit.
(3) Ensure that a detainee's treatment plan is received by the
medical personnel at the facility to which the detainee is being
transferred.
(4) Ensure that there is no delay, disruption, or denial of
medical treatment after or before detainee transfer.
(i) An immigration detainee shall not be involuntarily placed in
segregated housing in an immigration detention facility because of
his or her actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender
expression, or sexual orientation, as defined in Section 422.56 of
the Penal Code. Transgender and gender non-conforming immigration
detainees shall be give the option to choose a housing placement
consistent with their gender identity.
(j) An immigration detention facility shall have a Legal
Orientation Program (as established by the Executive Office for
Immigration Review of the United States Department of Justice) or
similar program to provide comprehensive explanations about
immigration court procedure, along with other basic legal
information, to unrepresented immigration detainees. The program
shall include an orientation on immigration removal proceedings and
forms of relief, distribute self-help materials, provide private,
individual consultations with unrepresented detainees to discuss
their cases, and referrals to pro bono legal services.
(k) For purposes of this section, "segregated housing" means
administrative segregation or disciplinary segregation, as defined in
the 2011 Operations Manual ICE Performance-Based National Detention
Standards as corrected and clarified in February 2013, or any other
act resulting in an individual being segregated from the general
population through prolonged physical or social isolation for hours,
days, weeks, or years.
SEC. 4. SEC. 3. The provisions of
this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its
application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other
provisions or applications that can be given effect without the
invalid provision or application.