San Diego County on Tuesday followed through on its ultimatum and sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for access to the Otay Mesa Detention Center, weeks after DHS denied that access for a public health inspection.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer said the lawsuit was about following the law.
"We live in a nation that's governed by laws," she said. "Transparency and public health oversight are not optional."
Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, whose district includes the Otay Mesa Detention Center, said no one is above the law, including President Donald Trump.
“What we're seeing today reflects a broader pattern under the Trump administration, where federal agencies are increasingly blocking transparency and oversight even when public health is at stake,” she said.
California law allows counties to inspect private detention centers for public health purposes. San Diego is the first to try to exercise that right.
County officials say detainees have reported freezing temperatures, untreated medical conditions, and food unfit for human consumption at the facility, prompting requests for elected officials and public health personnel to inspect the center.
Federal and county officials were turned away from the Otay Mesa Detention Center last month when they tried to inspect the facility. Last Wednesday, the county gave DHS until the end of the business day to grant access.
County Counsel Damon Brown said DHS did not respond until the next day and asked duplicative questions that had already been answered before.
The suit names DHS, ICE, CoreCivic (the detention center's operator), acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who was fired by Trump the day after the county's deadline.
Lawson-Remer said the merit of the case remains, regardless of who's at the top.
“The complaint that we filed asserts three causes of action, each grounded in federal and state law,” Brown said. "The defendant's decision is arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion because they have provided no reasonable explanation and ignored essential statutory requirements and cooperative federalism principles."
The county said its authority ends at inspection. If the inspection finds any violations, they will be published but it will then be up to Congress to act.
For Lawson-Remer, the issue hits closer to home as a Jewish person.
“We have family stories about people who barely escaped a Holocaust in a country that was apparently ruled by law at the time," she said. "And then individuals were just arbitrarily detained and nobody inspected and nobody cared and nobody watched, and everyone shut their eyes. And then that's what happens.”
The county also plans to file a motion for a preliminary injunction Friday, seeking immediate access to the detention center.
The detention center faces allegations of untreated medical conditions, spoiled food and unsafe conditions. In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said that all detainees are provided with proper meals, water and medical treatment.
“ICE is regularly audited and inspected by external agencies to ensure that all ICE facilities comply with performance-based national detention standards," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens."
