May 11, 2026 - SACRAMENTO – Last week, the California State Senate passed Senate Bill 941 by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego), which would prohibit the excessive 
markup of products sold at private detention facilities.
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In California, every ICE detainee is held in a private detention facility operated by a private corporation on private property under contract with the federal government. California is currently home to seven such facilities, including two located within Senator Padilla’s district.
Commissaries at such facilities are often operated by third-party vendors that set prices without meaningful oversight. Reports from oversight and advocacy organizations document excessive pricing and inadequate access to basic necessities in private detention facility commissaries: a bar of Irish Spring soap was marked up by 75%, ramen noodles by 100%, Colgate Baking Soda and Peroxide by 139%, and canned tuna by 300%.
“California corporations are profiting off of families during the hardest moments of their lives, while detainees, who include US citizens, are subjected to horrendous conditions,” said Senator Padilla. “Corporations are using President Trump’s mass incarceration spree to exploit working-class families. We cannot allow this kind of opportunistic profiteering to continue unchecked.”
SB 941 prohibits the sale of commissary items in private detention facilities at prices exceeding a 35 percent markup above vendor cost. This extends California’s existing commissary price protections, established under SB 474 (The BASIC Act), to ICE detention facilities.
SB 941 is sponsored by California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, the California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General, and Immigrant Defense Advocates.
To learn more about Senate Bill 941 and the unjust markups that detainees face within private detention facilities, click here.
SB 941 passed the Senate by a vote of 38-0. The bill now moves to the Assembly.
Steve Padilla represents the 18th Senate District, which includes the communities of Chula Vista, the Coachella Valley, Imperial Beach, the Imperial Valley, National City, and San Diego. Prior to his election to the Senate in 2022, Senator Padilla was the first person of color ever elected to city office in Chula Vista, the first Latino Mayor, and the first openly LGBT person to serve or be elected to city office. Website of Senator Steve Padilla: https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/