LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council took action Feb. 11 to advance local legislation toward a ban on private detention facilities, approving Councilmember Tim McOsker’s motion to revive legislation that would use the city’s land use authority to prohibit such centers in all zoning designations citywide.
The action today reactivates a city file and draft ordinance that was nearly complete during the first Trump Administration term, restoring it to its most recent legislative status and restarts the final steps needed to codify the ban into the Los Angeles Municipal Code.
“This motion is about being prepared, not reactive. The City of Los Angeles came very close in 2021 to formally prohibiting private detention centers, but that work was left unfinished,” said Councilmember Tim McOsker. “I want to make sure Los Angeles is clear about where we stand. I have no indication that a private detention facility is being proposed here today, but with the state of our nation as it stands, it would be irresponsible not to complete this work. Reactivating this file and adopting the ordinance will allow us to define these uses in our Municipal Code and prevent private detention facilities from taking hold in our communities before there is a proposal on the table.”
The effort originated in 2019 under then–Council President Herb Wesson, in response to the rapid expansion of private detention facilities nationwide and widespread concerns about children being held in detention facilities, human rights violations, poor living conditions, and private prison operators profiting from an aggressive federal enforcement strategy.
Across the country, federal immigration officials and private prison companies are pursuing large industrial properties like warehouses as new detention spaces. The Washington Post reported last month that the Trump Administration has moved to acquire industrial buildings in at least eight states. This is part of their broad effort to build out a national detention network and house growing numbers of immigrants in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE custody.
One high-profile example of the national detention build-out is the facility in the Florida Everglades informally known as Alligator Alcatraz, a remote migrant detention center that opened in mid-2025 at a converted airstrip and has drawn national criticism over its conditions.
In July 2021, the city attorney had submitted a final report and draft ordinance amending the Municipal Code to formally prohibit private detention centers and community detention facilities for unaccompanied minors. That report was referred to the planning and land use management committee, where the file expired.
The ordinance builds on recommendations adopted by the planning and land use management committee in April 2021 and an expanded definition approved by the city planning commission in December 2020. The definition of “Private Detention Center” includes any privately or nongovernmentally operated facility where individuals are incarcerated or otherwise involuntarily confined, including facilities used to house persons in federal custody, with limited statutory exceptions.
McOsker emphasized the need to update the legal research and complete this work. The council district he represents is home to the federal detention facility on Terminal Island, which is currently in the process of closing, as well as numerous large warehouses and industrial sites throughout the district. McOsker believes that before any proposals for private detention facilities are submitted, the city needs to assert its land use authority and prohibit uses that are contrary to local public policy.