Los Angeles is blocking privately run detention centers from opening in the city, including facilities for immigrant youth in government custody, under a stopgap measure approved Tuesday by the City Council. The company said it had been awarded contracts from the federal government to operate facilities in Tucson, San Antonio and Southern California. Council members already voted last summer to draft rules prohibiting private detention centers, but that permanent ordinance has yet to be written and approved. Under the L.A. measure, the council can still grant “hardship exemptions” from the restrictions on a case-by-case basis. “You’ve seen this government come after the state of California, over and over again,” Martinez said.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 04, 2020 20:26 UTC