Lawmakers denied inspection access to the Otay Mesa Detention Center

from Deborah BrennanCalMatters

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Federal immigration officials blocked two San Diego County supervisors and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla from inspecting the Otay Mesa detention center on Friday.

Padilla made an unannounced visit under a federal law that allows members of Congress to conduct surveillance in detention facilities, with or without prior notification. The Department of Homeland Security required lawmakers to provide seven days’ notice of visits, but a federal judge in December temporarily suspended this restrictionconfirming that lawmakers can conduct real-time surveillance of detention centers.

“It was more than disappointing, but unfortunately not surprising,” Padilla said. “The big question I come up with is what do they have to hide?

Earlier in the week, San Diego County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Paloma Aguirre were granted permission to enter the facility under California law that authorizes state, county and local officials to review of health and safety conditions in private immigration detention centers.

However, they were denied entry on Friday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement overturned that decision. San Diego County Public Health Officer Sayone Thihalolipavan and another county official were granted limited access to inspect the facility Friday morning, but were unable to conduct a full inspection. Lawson-Remer said the county will challenge the denial in court.

“I have every intention of taking legal action,” she said. “The federal government cannot deny us the lawful exercise of our public health and safety powers. That is a clear prerogative of state law.”

The number of people held in ICE custody climbed from about 40,000 in early 2025 to 73,000 in mid-January, amid an immigration crackdown and mass deportation efforts under the Trump administration.

Padilla said the Otay Mesa facility regularly exceeds capacity, with an average of 1,456 people detained by ICE between Oct. 1 and Nov. 10, exceeding CoreCivic’s contracted capacity of 1,358. ICE data shows the number of detainees exceeded 1,600 on several days in September.

A CalMatters investigation found this immigration arrests also increased, growing 1,500% in San Diego between May and October 2025 compared to the previous year.

State officials have faced hurdles trying to enforce conditions at immigration detention centers, with some California lawmakers complaining they’ve been overruled. In July, two Democratic members of Congress said they were locked at the gate of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center as they tried to check the components stored there.

In other cases, they have successfully entered facilities and reported unsanitary conditions. Last month, Padilla and fellow Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff make a supervisory visit to the newest and largest immigration detention center in California City, north of Los Angeles. They described inadequate medical care, spoiled food and a prison environment.

County officials are authorized to inspect for health or safety concerns under two California laws passed during the first Trump administration and last year. A A CalMatters investigation last year found that four counties that include immigration detention centers do not exercise that authority.

Lawson-Remer and Aguirre planned to review medical care, safety and living conditions at Otay Mesa on Friday, but said county health officials have only been granted cursory access to the facility, while supervisors have none.

“Our chief physician was granted access earlier in the day,” Aguirre said. “He was released and was able to enter the facility, but he was not able to do a full search, so he was only able to see the kitchen and some medical wards. He did not have access to the rules and procedures, he was not able to see any medical records or speak to any of the detainees.”

Before their visit, they were refused by lawyers for several detainees who asked to speak with county officials. One diabetic patient complained that he did not receive the necessary medical care when his blood sugar levels were dysregulated. Another had a rash covering most of his body and could not get an ointment to treat it. And one went on hunger strike after receiving inadequate food and was placed in what amounted to solitary confinement. Some detainees complained of losing teeth due to poor nutrition.

The guards expected to question the detainees and had applied for permission to enter the center more than a week ago. They shared copies of emails from ICE confirming approval of their request this week.

When they arrived, however, officials from CoreCivic, the Tennessee-based private corporation that runs the facility, told them they did not have the proper authorization from ICE.

“And then we presented the documents that very clearly stated that we had been cleared by ICE and the story changed,” Aguirre said.

After the supervisors produced proof of their clearances, detention center officials told them that ICE national officials had revoked them. CalMatters reached out to ICE for comment Friday, but did not hear back.

When Aguirre and Lawson-Remer challenged the denial, they said detention officers threatened to call the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department to remove them.

“They had a lot of notice and they still wouldn’t let us in,” Lawson-Rimmer said. “Just think how terrible those conditions must be.”

As Padilla sought access to the detention center around 3:30 p.m., a fire truck and an ambulance entered the parking lot with lights flashing, then left shortly afterward. Padilla said detention officials would not release information about the apparent medical emergency.

Like partial government shutdown that halted funding for the Department of Homeland Security shows little sign of letting up, Padilla said Democrats will demand stricter standards for detention centers.

“We’re continuing to use this funding debate to ensure not only reforms to what ICE agents and CBP agents do on the streets, how they connect in communities across the country, but to force concessions on the status of detention facilities,” he said.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.