SOPHIE HUMMEL / CONTRIBUTOR

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration on March 11. Officials at the Otay Mesa Detention Center turned away U.S. Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and U.S. Supervisor Paloma Aguirre when they tried to inspect the facility last month. 

The two officials then informed the Department of Homeland Security  (DHS) that they would face legal action if they were not allowed into the facility by March 4 at 5 p.m. 

The move to inspect Otay Mesa stems from a variety of concerns inside the detention center. These alleged complaints ranged in severity from contaminated food to physical assault. Additionally, attorneys representing detainees sent waivers to county officials seeking discussions about the facility’s inaccessible medical care. These included reports that staff failed to regulate a diabetic patient’s blood sugar and did not provide treatment to a detainee with a full-body rash. Others complained of lost teeth due to poor nutrition.

Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer  explained  her connection  to the issue   as  a  Jewish  person  in  a KPBS   news  interview  on  March 10. 

“We have family stories about people who barely escaped a Holocaust in a country that was apparently ruled by law at the time,” Lawson-Remer 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 following day, Lawson-Remer sat down with Jade Hindmon, KPBS Midday Edition Host, to discuss where the lawsuit stands and the need to inspect the detention center.

“They are certainly significant enough to  cause  for  alarm  and  make it really  imperative that we are able to inspect the facility,”  Lawson-Remer   explained   on KPBS.

USD Sociology Chair and Professor Thomas Reifer described the situation as urgent.

“When you go back to the free speech debates, one of the things they say is that it’s illegal to yell fire in a crowded theater…” Reifer said. “It’s time to yell ‘fire’, in the sense that what is happening is not normal. It is not okay.”

USD sophomore Gillian Borseth explained her thoughts on the detention center’s refusal to conduct an inspection.

“The fact that they didn’t allow an inspection shows that they are doing things that are inhumane,” Borseth said. “I think students should be aware of that because a lot of the time students want to support one person or represent one party, but they don’t actually know what’s going on.”

USD sophomore Madden Craig said he doesn’t hear immigration detention issues discussed frequently among students on campus. 

“I feel like people would rather not talk about it just to avoid conflict,” Craig said. “Students should care about it and … I think it’s something that should be talked about more.” 

Following the initial block from the detention center, California Senator Alex Padilla also attempted to conduct a visit but was also denied entry, despite California law allowing counties to inspect detention centers for public health purposes. 

The lawsuit targets ICE,  including   ICE  Director  Todd  Lyons, DHS and CoreCivic — the private company that runs the detention center, with preliminary documents including former homeland security secretary Kristi Noem.

A press release from Padilla on Feb. 20 mentioned that the facility has exceeded its contractual capacity of 1,358, with an average of 1,456 people in custody between Oct. 1 and Nov. 10. ICE data reveals the number of detainees climbed to over 1,600 for several days in September, according to CalMatters. These numbers are consistent with a broader increase in the number of people held in ICE custody, which rose from 40,000 in Jan. 2025 to approximately 73,000 by mid Jan. 2026. 

These numbers and reports from the detention center alarm USD junior Hannah Topol.

“It just reminds you,  these aren’t stories,”  Topol   said.  “This  is  reality, and it’s easy for us to read a news article and close our computers. But  this  is  people’s lives.”

Professor Reifer also expressed similar compassion.

“Some of them are citizens, some of them are undocumented, but they all have the right to be treated humanely,” Reifer said. “That is an issue about us. It’s not an issue about them. It’s a question about who we want to be and what we think is important.”

While  the  case  proceeds  in  court, the lawsuit seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction that requires the DHS, ICE and CoreCivic to allow a full inspection of the detention center in the interim.

The Otra Mesa Detention Center currently holds over 1,000 people. Photo courtesy of @kpbs/Instagram