San Diego County filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday after federal officials blocked a public health inspection of the Otay Mesa Detention Center, county officials announced March 10.
The lawsuit seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction requiring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CoreCivic, the private company that operates the facility, to allow the county’s public health officer to conduct a full inspection of the detention center while the case proceeds in court.
County officials say the inspection is authorized under California law and is necessary to investigate reports of unsafe conditions inside the facility.
“We’re here today to make one thing clear. The Trump administration cannot hide conditions inside the Otay Mesa Detention Facility,” county Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, an Encinitas resident whose District 3 covers the city and surrounding communities, said in remarks Tuesday outside Edward J. Schwartz United States Courthouse. “If they will not allow a lawful public health inspection, a federal court will.”
According to the county, officials attempted to carry out an inspection Feb. 20 under California Health and Safety Code Section 101045, a 2024 law allowing local public health officers to investigate private detention facilities to ensure they meet health and safety standards.
County Public Health Officer Dr. Sayone Thihalolipavan arrived at the facility that day but was granted only limited access, county officials said. He was briefly shown a kitchen and two medical bays but was denied access to medical records, detainee interviews and facility health policies that officials say are required for a full inspection.
Lawson-Remer and Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre, who represents District 1, where the facility is located, had previously received written clearance from ICE to enter the facility, according to the county. When they arrived, detention officials said national ICE leadership had reversed the approval and denied them entry. Officials also warned they would call the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department if the supervisors did not leave.
The county argues in its complaint that federal agencies and their contractor unlawfully blocked a state-authorized health inspection and failed to provide a lawful justification for denying access. The lawsuit contends that preventing the inspection violates federal administrative law and California statutes that authorize local oversight of detention facilities operating within county boundaries.
“This is our job. This authority exists for a reason,” Lawson-Remer said. “Diseases and unsafe conditions impact those inside the facility and do not stop at locked gates. Staff, contractors and visitors move between that facility and our community every single day.”
The Otay Mesa facility houses civil immigration detainees awaiting immigration proceedings or deportation and is operated by CoreCivic under contract with federal authorities. The county’s complaint states that local governments have a responsibility to ensure detention facilities meet minimum standards for health and safety that protect detainees, staff and surrounding communities.
“This lawsuit enforces our legal right to access the Otay Mesa Detention Center for a public health inspection,” Aguirre said Tuesday. “San Diego County is responsible for protecting the health and safety of everyone within our borders. That responsibility does not disappear because a facility houses immigration detainees or because it’s operated by a for-profit corporation under federal contract.”
County officials say they are seeking a court order requiring federal officials and CoreCivic to allow the inspection to proceed and clarifying the county’s authority to conduct health and safety inspections of privately operated immigration detention centers located within its jurisdiction.
“This case is about ensuring that the county can carry out its legal duty to protect the health and safety of people housed and working within the facility and the broader community that depends on us to do so,” County Counsel Damon Brown said Tuesday.
This report was partially written using artificial intelligence, then edited and fact-checked against source material. View our AI policy on the About Us page.
