San Diego County moves toward inspecting Otay Mesa, a private ICE detention center, under new state authority

County officials prepare first local health inspection at privately run immigration detention facility

San Diego County is moving to inspect the Otay Mesa Detention Center, a privately operated immigration detention facility in the county’s South Bay, after a formal request was submitted to the county health department to initiate an inspection under California health and safety law. The request was made by County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, who said she expects the inspection to occur before the end of February 2026, although a specific date had not been publicly set as of late January.

Otay Mesa Detention Center, located at 7488 Calzada de la Fuente in San Diego, is operated by CoreCivic under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The facility is one of seven immigration detention centers in California and the only one located in San Diego County.

What the law allows county health officers to do

California law authorizes county health officers to investigate health and sanitary conditions in detention facilities and to make additional investigations as deemed necessary, including at a “private detention facility.” The statute also provides for inspections upon request by certain officials and requires the investigating officer to assess whether basics such as food, clothing and bedding meet minimum standards, alongside sanitation conditions.

Statewide, local governments have had expanded tools to review conditions at privately operated immigration detention sites, but county-led inspections have been uncommon since the authority was enacted in 2024.

Oversight questions and potential access disputes

The planned county inspection comes amid broader disputes over transparency and access to detention facilities. Federal rules allow members of Congress to conduct oversight visits, but access has been contested in some instances nationwide. Locally, county officials have raised concerns about whether federal authorities could restrict entry by county inspectors, an issue that could affect timing and scope if an inspection proceeds.

Why Otay Mesa has drawn scrutiny in the past

Otay Mesa has previously been the focus of federal reviews and litigation tied to detention conditions. A 2021 unannounced federal inspector general report identified violations of detention standards affecting areas such as grievance handling, segregation-related services, and staff-detainee communications, while also noting the facility generally provided sufficient medical care to detainees at that time. Separately, a virtual inspection conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic found multiple deficiencies under detention standards, including in medical care and telephone access, and noted limitations because inspectors could not enter the facility in person.

County officials have said the purpose of a local inspection would be to provide an additional layer of oversight focused on health and sanitary conditions—an area that can intersect with disease prevention, living standards, and community public health impacts.

• Facility: Otay Mesa Detention Center (privately operated)
• Operator: CoreCivic (contracted by ICE)
• Location: Otay Mesa area of San Diego, near the U.S.-Mexico border
• Expected timing: before the end of February 2026, pending scheduling and access

County health inspections typically center on sanitation, adequacy of basic supplies, and conditions that can affect the spread of illness inside facilities and into surrounding communities.

If conducted, the inspection would represent a significant test of how California’s county-level authority can be applied to privately run federal immigration detention sites, and whether local health oversight can operate alongside federal detention standards and contracting arrangements.