A report released Monday on a San Diego County health inspection of Otay Mesa Detention Center in June found that conditions generally met state standards, but it faulted a failure to disclose two suspected tuberculosis cases for several weeks.Â
In a statement, County Public Health Officer Sayone Thihalolipavan said that the risks associated with the two suspected cases was low, but that the operator’s “failure to communicate promptly” was “a serious breach of basic public health protocol and creates unacceptable risk for detainees, staff, visitors, and the surrounding community.”
Supervisor Paloma Aguirre represents the district in which the detention center sits and said the “whole community” was put in jeopardy. Cases of the contagious bacterial infection require quick reporting and a coordinated response to slow transmission.
“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,” Aguirre said. “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.”
CoreCivic operates the facility under a contract with the Department of Homeland Security. The detention center holds more than 1,000 immigrants a day, and recent months have brought allegations from detainees of deteriorating health and inadequate medical care. The county tried to inspect the facility in February and was thwarted.
The county’s new report makes several recommendations, including urging the facility operators to provide recommended vaccinations, to provide medical devices in a timely manner and to “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.”
Attempts to reach CoreCivic and the federal government for comment Monday night after the county released its report were unsuccessful.
The county noted that CoreCivic is not required to follow the county’s recommendations but said that county officials would submit the findings to the California Department of Public Health, the state Attorney General and the county’s congressional delegation.
The federal government bought Otay Mesa from CoreCivic for $739.2 million in July, but CoreCivic said it expects to keep operating the facility under its existing Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract through December 2029.
The county said in a statement that they don’t believe the sale will impact future health inspections since state law includes facilities operated by private entities.
Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer said to expect additional inspections.
“Oversight cannot be a one-time event,” she said. “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.”
The inspection was the county’s first under a 2024 state law that gave local health officers authority to investigate privately run detention facilities. County officials spent nearly eight hours inspecting the facility on June 12 with two correctional health care consultants, reviewing conditions after months of disputes over access.
Supervisors Lawson-Remer and Aguirre and Sen. Alex Padilla were denied entry in February. A county health inspector was allowed into the kitchen and medical bays but could not review medical records or facility policies, interview detainees or complete the requested inspection.
The county filed a lawsuit in response, and a federal judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security and CoreCivic to comply with the inspection in June.
Members of the House of Representatives have faced similar barriers: Rep. Juan Vargas was turned away in February, while Reps. Sara Jacobs and Mike Levin were allowed inside but barred from speaking with detainees during a May oversight visit.
The California Department of Justice found dangerous lapses in the handling of one recurrent tuberculosis case during its October 2025 inspection, according to a May report. The treatment for one Otay Mesa detainee with recurrent tuberculosis ended after six weeks despite public health guidance, and the disease later worsened.
Unlike with the county visit, state inspectors found a host of issues at the facility.
They found that some detainees whose needs exceeded Otay Mesa’s capabilities remained in medical housing for months or cycled between the facility and hospitals as their symptoms worsened.
Timely transfers to facilities capable of providing higher-level care did not always occur, even when medical staff advocated for them.
Of the 27 detainees who said they requested medical or mental health care, 21 said they did not receive the help they needed. The report also described detainees missing cancer surgery or aftercare because of detention or transfers.
The county’s findings follow an inewsource investigation that identified nearly 70 federal court cases in which detainees raised concerns about health or medical care at Otay Mesa, including disruptions in treatment for chronic illness and in the case of one diabetic patient, potentially life threatening conditions.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
