County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer wants to use a relatively new section of California’s Health and Safety code to conduct an inspection of a privately-owned immigrant detention center in Otay Mesa.
Lawson-Remer’s push for local oversight comes amid a rising death toll in immigration detention centers nationwide. Last year, 32 people died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody — the most since 2004.
And so far this year, six detainees in ICE custody have died — putting the agency on pace for 150 deaths. One of those deaths garnered national headlines this week in Texas. Federal officials called it a suicide, but the local county coroner ruled it a homicide by asphyxiation.
Locally, there have been two deaths in the Imperial County detention center, but none in Otay Mesa. However, KPBS has reported on several instances in which people have complained about treatment and conditions in the facility, which is run by the Tennessee-based CoreCivic.
“It’s terrifying, to be frank, the notion that you could have people locked away, incarcerated, with no oversight,” Lawson-Remer said. “Especially as these deaths have been reported.”
Lack of independent oversight has been a point of contention throughout President Donald Trump’s second term. Federal law grants members of Congress the authority to inspect ICE facilities. Yet, Trump administration officials have in recent months barred several Democratic lawmakers from entering facilities in California, New York, Illinois and Minnesota.
Lawson-Remer believes lack of transparency at the federal level means local jurisdictions must act.
“I think if ICE was actually doing what it was supposed to do and was being adequately monitored by federal officials, I would feel less of a need for us, as a county, to step in,” she said.
ICE did not respond to questions from KPBS for this story.
On its website, ICE acknowledges its responsibility to comply with federal detention standards.
“As part of its critical mission, ICE ensures that each of its detention facilities adhere to the national detention standards that govern facility operations and protect the health, safety and well-being of all aliens in its custody,” the agency states.
However, ICE has not published any inspection reports on its website since September 2022.
In recent years, CoreCivic has faced multiple lawsuits alleging poor medical treatment at the Otay Mesa Detention Centers — including chronic understaffing of healthcare workers and lengthy wait times for detainees to access medical care. The company charges taxpayers $217 per day to detain someone in San Diego and Imperial counties.
Lawson-Remer says California’s health and safety code authorizes the county to conduct an inspection.
Specifically, it states: “County health officers may make additional investigations of a county jail, private detention facility, or other detention facilities as they determine necessary.”
Lawson-Remer said she has made a formal request to the county health department to conduct an inspection. A date has not been set, but she expects it to happen before the end of February. If the county does an inspection it would be the first in California to do so.
It remains unclear whether ICE would block county officials from inspecting their facility. Lawson-Remer called it, “a deep concern,” that federal officials may block the county inspection.
