A report released Friday on conditions at immigration detention facilities across the state \u2014 including the Otay Mesa Detention Center \u2014 found that overcrowding is a major issue at the San Diego County facility caused by a marked increase in immigration arrests within the past year.<\/p>\n
The findings are contained in the California Department of Justice\u2019s report on Otay Mesa and six other California immigration detention facilities, all of which displayed \u201cserious concerns about these facilities\u2019 ability to safely detain a growing detainee population and underscore the need for greater accountability and oversight,\u201d according to a statement from the California Attorney General\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
Six detainees died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody between September 2025 and March 2026 \u2014 the highest number since the state DOJ started conducting reviews in 2017, the 175-page report found.<\/p>\n
In a statement, state Attorney General Rob Bonta took aim at the Trump administration\u2019s focus on deportations as a catalyst for increasingly poor conditions within the state\u2019s immigration detention facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trump Administration\u2019s mass deportation campaign has led to a shocking increase in detainee populations \u2014 and facilities have been alarmingly unprepared to meet this new demand,\u201d Bonta said. \u201cDuring their inspections, my team found evidence of inadequate medical care and heard countless reports of disturbing, unsafe, and unsanitary conditions and a lack of basic necessities. This is cruel, inhumane and unacceptable \u2014 and it is past time for the Trump Administration to do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security \u2014 of which ICE is a division \u2014 said in a statement, \u201cNo lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been treated better than illegal aliens in the United States. It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the best health care many aliens have received in their entire lives,\u201d the DHS spokesperson said. \u201cMeals are certified by dieticians. Ensuring the safety, security and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the ACLU of Southern California said the civil rights organization was reviewing the report.<\/p>\n
Regarding the Otay Mesa Detention Center, the DOJ\u2019s report said the facility experienced \u201csurges in population\u201d that have impacted intake process time, cleanliness of the housing units and the availability of numerous other resources.<\/p>\n
During the DOJ\u2019s two-day tour of the facility last fall, Otay Mesa\u2019s population was around 21% greater than it was during the DOJ\u2019s prior visit in 2023.<\/p>\n
The DOJ said detainees reported a lack of available beds and toilets for the entire facility population, along with inadequate portions of food and water. Detainees \u201cstated that their housing units often had 20-30 people over capacity,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n
While the facility has improved its health care staffing levels since the DOJ\u2019s 2023 site visits, the report said there were delays in medical care access and recordkeeping issues impacting continuity of care.<\/p>\n
The report also said Otay Mesa was the only California facility that had a policy to strip-search detainees after each contact visit with friends or family.<\/p>\n
\u201cDetainees reported that this practice has an overwhelming negative impact on the mental health and dignity of detainees,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
The report comes shortly after efforts were made by county officials to inspect the facility after they said detainees reported freezing temperatures, untreated medical conditions and food unfit for human consumption. San Diego County later sued the federal government and private prison company CoreCivic, which operates Otay Mesa, after county supervisors were blocked from entering the premises, and a San Diego federal judge has indicated that he will grant the county\u2019s request.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A report released Friday on conditions at immigration detention facilities across the state \u2014 including the Otay Mesa…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":799636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,409,1370,728,50,80348,3549,3550,7264,34159,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-799635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-immigration","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-otay-mesa","16":"tag-san-diego","17":"tag-san-diego-county","18":"tag-sandiego","19":"tag-south-county","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116582052332138224","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}