Friday, May 29, 2026

Senate Unanimously Passes Altadena Woman’s Namesake Detention Oversight Bill

Masuma Khan [from a supplied courtesy photo]

Legislation authored by Pasadena-area senator would authorize state inspections of private facilities and fines up to $25,000 per day

The California State Senate voted 39-0 to pass the Masuma Khan Justice Act, legislation named for a 64-year-old Altadena resident who was detained without critical medication at a private immigration facility last fall, according to a press release from the bill’s author, Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena).

SB 995 would create a statewide inspection framework for privately operated detention facilities, authorizing four state agencies to conduct periodic reviews and imposing civil penalties up to $25,000 per violation per day on operators that fail to meet health and safety standards. The bill now advances to the California State Assembly.

Khan, an immigrant from Bangladesh who has lived in the United States for nearly 30 years, was taken into custody during a routine check-in with immigration officials in October 2025, according to Sen. Pérez’s office. She was held at CoreCivic’s California City Detention Facility without access to medication for chronic asthma, high blood pressure, and glaucoma, the senator’s office said. A federal judge ordered her release in November 2025.

“While I was detained at Core Civic’s California City facility, I experienced fear and lasting trauma that no one should have to experience,” Khan said in a statement when the bill was introduced in February, according to Sen. Pérez’s website. “I was not given vital medications, proper meals, and often, access to communicate with my family and attorneys.”

Khan had no criminal history, according to Public Counsel, the legal organization that represented her.

Sen. Pérez, whose Senate District 25 includes Pasadena and Altadena, introduced SB 995 on February 6. Her district office is at 215 N. Marengo Avenue, Suite 380, in Pasadena.

“This bill is rooted in the simple principle that if detention centers operate in California, they must meet California’s standards,” Pérez said in the press release announcing passage.

The vote came one week after California Attorney General Rob Bonta released a report documenting six detainee deaths between September 2025 and March 2026 at state facilities, the highest number since state oversight began in 2017, according to the attorney general’s office. Bonta called the conditions “cruel, inhumane and unacceptable,” according to KPBS.

Under the bill, the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the State Department of Public Health, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Department of Industrial Relations would conduct inspections of facilities housing more than 50 people overnight where residents cannot freely leave, according to the CalMatters Digital Democracy legislative tracker. Operators could also face suspension or revocation of state permits, according to Sen. Pérez’s office.

“No one in California should lose their dignity, their well-being, or their life because a facility failed to meet basic health and safety standards. California has both the right and the responsibility to ensure that every involuntary residential facility meets fundamental standards of safety, sanitation, and humane treatment. This bill makes that responsibility real,” Hector O. Villagra, Vice President of Policy Advocacy and Community Education at MALDEF, said in a statement on the senator’s website. MALDEF, CHIRLA, Public Counsel, and the South Asian Network co-sponsored the bill.

California’s 2019 attempt to ban private detention facilities outright was struck down by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Supremacy Clause grounds, according to CalMatters. SB 995 takes a different approach, establishing state inspections rather than prohibiting operations.

During her floor speech, Pérez referenced hunger strikes underway at the Adelanto Detention Center in San Bernardino County, according to the press release. The Department of Homeland Security has denied a hunger strike was occurring at the facility, according to LAist.

The bill must pass the Assembly and be signed by the governor before it becomes law.