California is one step closer to ensuring greater transparency over immigration detention.
SB 423, the Detention Facility Transparency Act, has cleared a key legislative committee and is currently pending on the Assembly Floor! We are sponsoring this bill with Immigrant Defense Advocates because 911 calls and related records can shine a light on what happens in a notoriously secretive system. We are grateful to Sen. Lena A. Gonzalez, a Long Beach Democrat and chair of the Latino Legislative Caucus, for demanding “no more secrecy.”
And this week, KVCR’s Anthony Victoria featured this need for transparency on his IE Latino Voices program. Our colleague Paloma Esquivel shared her firsthand experience trying to secure public records about what’s going on inside these privately operated facilities.
We are proud to champion SB 423 alongside a broad press coalition. As FAC followers know, the California Public Records Act is too often under attack, so it’s especially encouraging to see this progress!