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The County released a report to the public today with details about conditions at the Otay Mesa Detention Center after taking legal action to conduct a health and environmental inspection
While the conditions on the date of the inspection were generally within recommended state standards for detention facilities, areas of concern in the findings included an individual who was not provided a needed medical device18 months after admission, as well as not having any vaccines in stock. Another major area of concern was lack of responsiveness with County Public Health to coordinate tuberculosis-related cases. Two tuberculosis cases were not reported from the facility’s medical staff but were instead discovered through a facility vendor that provides medical testing services. The facility was unresponsive for several weeks before the facility finally cooperated with the communicable disease investigation.
“Tuberculosis requires immediate reporting and a coordinated response to identify exposed individuals, initiate appropriate treatment, and prevent further transmission,” said County Public Health Officer Sayone Thihalolipavan. “Fortunately, in this case, the risk related to the suspected cases was low, but failure to communicate promptly is a serious breach of basic public health protocol and creates unacceptable risk for detainees, staff, visitors, and the surrounding community. Unfortunately, this issue was also documented in the Attorney General’s recent report from their inspection in 2025.”
The details are included in a report about the inspection of the Otay Mesa Detention Center that took place June 12, 2026. The County previously attempted to conduct an inspection on Feb. 20, 2026, pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 101045, which was amended as of January 1, 2025, to permit inspections of private detention facilities. Despite the updated code, the County was prevented from completing a full inspection on Feb. 20, 2026. The County does not know what the conditions in the facility were on Feb. 20, 2026, when it initially attempted to conduct an inspection.
“For months, the federal government and CoreCivic tried to lock the doors and hide what was happening inside Otay Mesa Detention Center. San Diego County became the first county in California to test this new inspection law in court — and we won. We have proven that local governments do not have to sit back while private immigrant detention centers operate in secrecy. Now that we’ve documented the realities on the ground, the work does not stop here. Oversight cannot be a one-time event. Our Congressional delegation must be relentless and intentional in their inspections moving forward to ensure humane conditions, proper medical care, and accountability for every person detained,” said County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, who proposed the lawsuit against the federal government along with Supervisor and Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre.
With the Board of Supervisors’ direction, the County took legal action, and a federal judge ruled San Diego Public Health has the authority to conduct a health and safety inspection of the Otay Mesa Detention Center, ordering the federal government and CoreCivic to cooperate with the County
“The ruling affirms the County’s authority to conduct these independent inspections to protect those at the facility and inform the public about the conditions,” said County Counsel Damon Brown. “The County brought this action against the facility operators to enforce state and local rights to inspect federal detention facilities. The June 2026 preliminary injunction ruling allowed the County to conduct this inspection pending final relief on the merits. The County will continue to pursue its legal action, to obtain a final judgment that will affirm the County’s rights to conduct future inspections.”
An eight-hour inspection of the health and food facilities was conducted by San Diego Public Health Officer Sayone Thihalolipavan, San Diego County Director of Environmental Health Heather Buonomo, and two consultants with the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, a County contractor that regularly inspects detention facilities. They inspected various areas of the facility, reviewed policies and procedures, had discussions with detainees and staff, and viewed medical records. The findings in the public report reflect the conditions that existed at the time of the June inspection, noting the County was limited in fully assessing conditions in February.
“The people held at Otay Mesa include the fathers, mothers, and neighbors of families in my district,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre. “When they started throwing handwritten notes over the fence begging for help, I went to see for myself how they were being treated. I had written approval in my hand, and the federal government turned me away. I didn’t accept that answer. Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and I took the federal government to court, and we won
“Our public health officers conducted our legal right to inspect and what they found should concern every family in the South County: two cases of tuberculosis. TB is an airborne disease and it doesn’t stop at a fence line. The staff in that building go home to their families every night. This is exactly why public health inspections exist. Blocking them doesn’t protect a facility. It puts our whole community at risk. This report now goes to the State of California, and we’ll work with them on next steps. But my commitment doesn’t end with a report. It ends when the health, safety, and human dignity of everyone in our community—both inside and outside the facility—are fully protected.”
County’s recommendations in the report include:
- Operators should not attempt to delay or restrict future Health Officer inspections as full and timely compliance is essential to protecting public health and preventing the potential spread of preventable illnesses into the broader community.
- Communicate and coordinate in a timely manner with the County Department of Public Health Services on communicable disease investigations because of the high risk for the spread of communicable disease in detention facilities.
- Provide recommended vaccinations to help prevent diseases and outbreaks.
- Provide medical devices in a timely manner.
The facility is not required to follow the report’s recommendations, but the County will submit the findings to the California Department of Public Health, the state Attorney General and the County’s congressional delegation, as Congress has oversight of federal facilities. The report may also help provide support to those who are seeking action after experiencing issues and concerns at the facility
At the time of the inspection, Otay Mesa Detention Center was operated by CoreCivic under a contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The facility was recently sold to the federal government but continues to be operated by CoreCivic. The County does not believe the sale of will impact future inspections because the statute allows the County to inspect “private detention facilities” which are defined as detention facilities “operated by a private, nongovernmental, for-profit entity” pursuant to a contract with a governmental entity.
