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Tag: Prisons

Newsom to veto California bill blocking prisons from working with ICE: report

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is vowing to veto a bill that would block his state’s prison system from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a report says.

Assembly Bill 15 argues that “when California’s jails and prisons voluntarily and unnecessarily transfer immigrant and refugee community members eligible for release from state or local custody to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for immigration detention and deportation purposes, they subject these community members to double punishment and further trauma.”

“The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall not detain on the basis of a hold request, provide an immigration authority with release date information, or respond to a notification request, transfer to an immigration authority, or facilitate or assist with a transfer request any individual who is eligible for release,” reads some of the language of the bill.

However, Newsom’s office told KCRA 3 that the governor would veto the bill if it ever lands on his desk this year. Currently, the legislation has been referred to the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee, the station added.

CALIFORNIA CITY PASSES SWEEPING HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT BAN ON ALL PUBLIC PROPERTY

California Gov. Gavin Newsom waits for President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump to step off Air Force One upon their arrival at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Jan. 24. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

A spokesperson for Newsom did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on Friday. The bill is sponsored by Mike Gipson, a Democratic lawmaker who represents Los Angeles.

Two years ago, Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 1306, which called for similar actions.

“This bill prohibits the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from providing any information or responding to a request for coordination from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal law enforcement agency, regarding the imminent release of an incarcerated non-citizen, if the person is being released under specific circumstances,” Newsom wrote at the time.

TRUMP-SUPPORTING CALIFORNIA SHERIFF TO LAUNCH REPUBLICAN BID FOR GOVERNOR IN RACE TO SUCCEED NEWSOM: SOURCES

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement knocks on the door of an alleged suspect during a recent operation in Chicago, Ill. Assembly Bill 15 would prevent California’s prison system from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The bill would prevent information sharing and coordination upon a person’s release from CDCR custody for a significant number of people and, as a result, would impede CDCR’s interaction with a federal law enforcement agency charged with assessing public safety risks,” he continued.

“I believe current law strikes the right balance on limiting interaction to support community trust and cooperation between law enforcement and local communities. For this reason, I cannot sign this bill,” Newsom concluded.

A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer holds a pair of handcuffs at the Short-Term Restricted Housing Unit of California State Prison, Sacramento. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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More than 10,500 California inmates have been transferred into ICE custody since Newsom took office in 2019, KCRA 3 reported, citing prison system data.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

February 14, 2025
Trump looks to enforce trans inmate crackdown as new acting federal prisons chief tapped

A new interim director has been tapped to lead the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) as President Donald Trump looks to enforce a crackdown on transgender inmates in facilities that do not match their biological sex.

William W. Lothrop was named the new BOP director after Colette Peters resigned on Inauguration Day. It’s unclear when the Trump administration will appoint someone to permanently fill the role.

“As we face ongoing challenges, including staffing shortages and operational issues, I am committed to working alongside you to find real solutions that strengthen our facilities,” Lothrop said in the statement. “We will continue collaborating with our law enforcement partners and stakeholders to maintain robust programming and support services for inmates.”

TRUMP’S ‘TWO SEXES’ EXECUTIVE ORDER COMES ON HEELS OF SCOTUS ACCEPTING ANOTHER CHALLENGE TO LGBT AGENDA

Trump signs executive order stating there are only “two-sexes.” (Getty Images)

On his first day in office, Trump announced a temporary hiring freeze for federal positions and reversed former President Joe Biden’s ban on private prisons. His executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” defines sex strictly as male or female, based on biological characteristics, and mandates that federal agencies adopt this definition in their policies and practices.

The order specifies that individuals should be housed in federal prisons according to their biological sex rather than their gender identity, which will apply to the 2,300 transgender inmates currently housed in federal prisons across the U.S. It also halts federal funding for transgender procedures and treatments for inmates.

“The Attorney General shall ensure that the Bureau of Prisons revises its policies concerning medical care to be consistent with this order, and shall ensure that no Federal funds are expended for any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex,” the order reads.

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During the Biden administration, several U.S. states allowed transgender inmates to be housed in facilities that align with their gender identity. (Getty Images)

During the Biden administration, several U.S. states implemented policies allowing transgender inmates to be housed in facilities that align with their gender identity. In 2021, California became the first state to enact a policy permitting transgender inmates to request housing based on their gender identity. Since then, the state has seen a significant increase in such requests, with a 234% rise in the transgender inmate population.

In January 2022, New York state revised its policies to allow transgender individuals to choose their prison housing. And Colorado reached a legal settlement to house biological men in women’s facilities last year, which was part of a case involving 400 transgender women.

Fox News Digital has previously reported multiple cases of male inmates, serving sentences for sexual assault, murder and other violent offenses, in federal prisons being transferred to women’s facilities. Many of them have received taxpayer-funded medical procedures to medically transition genders.

Lothrop, who was formerly the BOP deputy director, is replacing Peters, who was appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 and touted as a reform-minded outsider tasked with rebuilding an agency plagued for years by staff shortages, widespread corruption, misconduct and abuse.

‘SCARED’ AND ‘TRAUMATIZED’ WALZ’S SUPPORT FOR TRANS WOMEN IN MINNESOTA WOMEN’S PRISON ‘ENDANGERING’ INMATES

In January 2022, New York state revised its policies to allow transgender individuals to choose their prison housing. (Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images)

The agency has nearly 36,000 employees and is responsible for more than 155,000 federal inmates. The BOP director is not subject to Senate confirmation, according to the legal news service Law 360. During her tenure, Peters appeared before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and spoke about the challenges the BOP faced, but she had trouble getting results.

During the end of Trump’s campaign, he pledged he would crack down on left-wing gender ideology and ran a successful ad campaign attacking his opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, for her role in ushering in sex change procedures for incarcerated people in California.

“Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you,” the narrator of Trump’s campaign advertisement said.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and BOP for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.

January 27, 2025
Bureau of Prisons director out as Trump’s Justice Department reforms take shape

The director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has resigned from her position, while a Biden-era executive order that sought to phase out the use of private prisons has been repealed amid President Donald Trump’s efforts to implement drastic reforms to the Justice Department.

Colette Peters, who has led the BOP since August 2022, is out as director of the beleaguered agency, and she has been replaced by William Lothrop, who had been serving as deputy director of the BOP.

Peters was appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 and touted as a reform-minded outsider tasked with rebuilding an agency plagued for years by staff shortages, widespread corruption, misconduct and abuse.

DOJ TO INVESTIGATE STATE OR LOCAL OFFICIALS WHO OBSTRUCT IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT: MEMO

Then Attorney General Merrick Garland shakes hands with Colette Peters, then director of the federal Bureau of Prisons, after she was sworn in at BOP headquarters in Washington, on Aug. 2, 2022. (Evelyn Hockstein via AP)

The agency has nearly 36,000 employees and is responsible for more than 155,000 federal inmates.

Lothrop, who says he has more than 30 years’ experience working in the BOP, announced the change via a statement on Tuesday, the day after President Trump was sworn into office. The BOP director is not subject to confirmation by the Senate, per the legal news service Law 360.

“On Jan. 20, 2025, Director Peters separated from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and I will be serving as the Acting Director,” Lothrop said. “As we face ongoing challenges, including staffing shortages and operational issues, I am committed to working alongside you to find real solutions that strengthen our facilities. We will continue collaborating with our law enforcement partners and stakeholders to maintain robust programming and support services for inmates.”

“Our mission remains clear: to provide a safe, secure and humane environment, ensure public safety, and prepare those in our custody for successful reentry into society,” his statement added.

Colette Peters, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has resigned from her position. ( Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)

CAREER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS REASSIGNED TO DIFFERENT POSITIONS: REPORTS

Soon after Trump was elected, Peters announced the closure of six male federal prison camps and one female facility, including the scandal-hit Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, per Forbes.

FCI Dublin had garnered the nickname “rape club” after the Justice Department in December was ordered to pay almost $116 million to 103 women who say they were abused there.

The prison’s former warden, Ray Garcia, and at least seven other employees are now in prison themselves for sexually abusing inmates.

During her tenure, Peters appeared before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and spoke about the challenges the BOP faced, but she had trouble getting results.

William Lothrop is the acting director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). (Federal Bureau of Prisons )

In September 2023, Peters was scolded by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, who said Peters forced them to wait more than a year for answers to written follow-up questions they sent her after she first appeared before the committee in September 2022, leaving them without information critical to fully understanding how the agency runs.

Peters also irked senators by claiming she couldn’t answer even the most basic questions about agency operations — like how many correctional officers are on staff — and by referring to notes and talking points on a tablet computer in front of her.

In 2024, then President Biden signed the Federal Prison Oversight Law, which allowed the Office of Inspector General to conduct more unannounced prison inspections, per Forbes.

Of the inspections OIG has done over the years, it found significant shortages of staff, poor medical care for prisoners, rotten food and dirty living conditions. Peters said she welcomed the law, but that it had not yet been funded.

The entrance to FCI Dublin, which is located in California’s Bay Area. ( Anda Chu/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)

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Trump reversed Executive Order 14006, which had eliminated Justice Department contracts with private prisons. The reversal now allows for new contracts between private prison corporations and the U.S. Marshals Service.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

You can send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.

January 23, 2025