A report released Friday on conditions at immigration detention facilities across the state — including the Otay Mesa Detention Center — found that overcrowding is a major issue at the San Diego County facility caused by a marked increase of arrivals within the past year.
The findings are contained in the California Department of Justice's report on Otay Mesa and six other California immigration detention facilities, all of which displayed "serious concerns about these facilities' ability to safely detain a growing detainee population and underscore the need for greater accountability and oversight," according to a statement from the California Attorney General's Office.
Six detainees died in ICE custody between September 2025 and March 2026 — the highest number since the California Department of Justice started conducting reviews in 2017, the 175-page "Immigration Detention in California" report found.
In a statement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta took aim at the current administration's focus on deportations as a catalyst for increasingly poor conditions within the state's immigration detention facilities.
"The Trump Administration's mass deportation campaign has led to a shocking increase in detainee populations — and facilities have been alarmingly unprepared to meet this new demand," Bonta said. "During 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 — and it is past time for the Trump Administration to do something about it."
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
A spokesperson for the ACLU of Southern California said the civil rights organization was reviewing the report.
Regarding the Otay Mesa Detention Center, the DOJ's report said the facility experienced "surges in population" that have impacted intake process time, cleanliness of the housing units and the availability of numerous other resources.
During the DOJ's two day tour of the facility last fall, Otay Mesa's population was around 21% greater than it was during the DOJ's prior visit in 2023.
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 "stated that their housing units often had 20-30 people over capacity," the report says.
While the facility has improved its health care staffing levels since the DOJ's 2023 site visits, the report said there were delays in medical care access and recordkeeping issues impacting continuity of care.
The report also said Otay Mesa was the only California facility that had a policy to strip search detainees after each non-legal contact visit.
"Detainees reported that this practice has an overwhelming negative impact on the mental health and dignity of detainees," the report said.
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 after county supervisors were blocked from entering the premises and a San Diego federal judge has indicated that he will grant the county's request.
