San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez says U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers can continue training at a county-owned firing range in Otay Mesa — despite a recent decision by the Board of Supervisors.
On Tuesday, supervisors voted 3-2 to cancel license agreements that allowed CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel to train at the San Diego Regional Firearms Training Center, which is jointly managed by the Sheriff’s Office, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office and FBI. Board Democrats said they didn’t want to support the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
But Martinez drew a distinction between ICE’s immigration enforcement tactics and CBP’s focus on ports of entry.
“They hold a very different role, and they have a huge responsibility in this region for not only commerce and trade — but also safety and security of our border,” she said.
In lieu of a formal license agreement, Martinez said she’ll provide CBP officers “day use” access to the range, which she said carries the same practical privileges. Martinez said CBP officers have few alternative options for maintaining mandatory firearms qualifications due to their numbers and proximity to the border.
“I really struggled with restricting their use of our range when, number one, there's not enough range space in the county,” she said. “And then any additional travel that's put into their day means that's more time that they're pulled away from their other duties, which are so important to the region.”
Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office and ICE mutually agreed the agency would no longer use the Otay Mesa range, according to Martinez. She said ICE agents have other places to train, including military gun ranges.
Before supervisors voted Tuesday, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a statement that ending access to the Otay Mesa range would impact staffing and increase wait times at border crossings and the San Diego International Airport.
“International ports of entry are economic engines. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is poised to slam on the brakes at all San Diego County ports for political reasons,” Scott said.
The two Republican supervisors shared those concerns and voted against ending the contracts.
Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, who brought forward the proposal with Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, was unconvinced. During Tuesday’s meeting, she cited the unprecedented amount of funding CBP has received during the second Trump administration.
“There’s more than enough resources for CBP, for our ports of entry to open all the available physical lanes that are already in place to ensure our cross-border economy continues to thrive,” she said.
In a statement Thursday, Aguirre did not address Martinez providing CBP officers day use access at the Otay Mesa Range, but said the board has “taken action for the people in my communities who are living in fear.“
“That decision has been made. The chief administrative officer will carry it out according to the terms of each agreement, and I expect every county department to follow the board’s direction.”
Lawson-Remer did not return a request for comment by deadline.
Supervisors addressed range access this week in response to a local surge in immigration enforcement since the beginning of the second Trump administration.
ICE removed more than 16,000 people in San Diego County between January 2025 and April 1, according to agency data. A separate KPBS analysis found the vast majority of immigrants arrested locally last year did not have criminal records.
