Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1633 on Tuesday (Sept. 29), putting a 25% tax on the gross income of private detention facilities in California, including those that partner with ICE.
The bill was one of more than 20 immigration-related measures he signed that day. It follows a year in which California lawmakers passed dozens of bills to expand oversight of federal immigration agencies, USA Today reports.
If we can't kick out private facilities, we'll go after their profits.
That is Newsom, in a press release. He framed the tax as pushback against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and what he sees as the privatizing of federal enforcement.
Per the bill's language, as reported by Fox News, the tax applies to federal, state and local contract recipients. The money goes to a "Due Process for All Fund" for immigration-related services. The law takes effect July 1, 2028.
Assemblymember Matt Haney, who authored the bill, said in a statement that corporations running these facilities "are being paid hundreds of millions to detain people in cruelty right here in California, and it has to end." The California Immigrant Policy Center praised the signing. Its executive director, Masih Fouladi, said the state "took direct aim at the profits of corporations tearing families apart."
Newsom also signed a ban on shock gloves in enforcement activity, which he called "the Orwellian practice." He said the package further protects access to the court system. "We may not be able to dictate federal immigration policy, but we can make clear that activities taking place in California will be subject to California law," he said.
The package has other pieces too, per USA Today. SB 747, the "No Kings Act" from State Sen. Scott Wiener, lets people sue government officials, including federal officers, over alleged constitutional violations. AB 1806 lets the state attorney general investigate fatal shootings of unarmed civilians by federal immigration agents. Newsom also vetoed AB 1896, which drew pushback.
Not everyone buys the framing. Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the conservative-leaning think tank Advancing American Freedom, told Fox News Digital the tax has "only one purpose." In his words, it is to make sure "the federal government cannot find any private property owners, any private contractors in California that are willing to lease space."
The numbers he points to are stark. He says ICE has detention space for about 66,000 people nationwide. DHS reporting says California has eight ICE detention facilities, all privately operated. GEO Group owns five. Imperial Valley Gateway Center LLC owns one. DHS bought the other two in July, and CoreCivic runs them under contracts through 2027 and 2029.
Here is the catch for Sacramento. Von Spakovsky says California cannot tax property the federal government owns. His read is that the government could convert federal warehouses or office space instead. That is his prediction, not a policy ICE has announced.
The law is nearly two years out, but he expects planning to start sooner. Newsom's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
His advice to the feds: "I'd go to Arizona. I'd potentially go to Nevada."