As a lawsuit between San Diego County and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is ongoing, county leaders Thursday called out operators of the Otay Mesa Detention Facility for failing to report a suspected tuberculosis case within 24 hours.
The facility — which is used as a detention site for suspected undocumented immigrants, is operated by CoreCivic at the behest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — waited three weeks to report the possible case, instead of the single day required by California law, the county leaders said.
"When we fought for this law and took this case to court, we were establishing a basic principle: Detention facilities must be subject to public- health oversight," said San Diego Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson- Remer. "As Otay Mesa continues to fail to report a communicable disease on time, it proves why those principles matter and why regular inspections must continue."
San Diego County issued the detention facility a notice of noncompliance and warned that continued violations may lead to professional licensing actions.
"Otay Mesa is in my district. The guards, nurses and cooks who work there live in Chula Vista, San Ysidro and Imperial Beach and they went home to their families every night for three weeks while this facility sat on a tuberculosis case," said Board Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre. "That's not a paperwork problem. This is my community's problem. State law gives them 24 hours. They took 21 days. We will continue to use every toll the law gives us until they follow it."
A report released by the county in August blamed the facility for its lack of transparency when it came to the health of its detainees, despite conditions being "generally within recommended state standards for detention facilities." An earlier two cases of tuberculosis were also not revealed to the county's public health department, instead "discovered through a facility vendor that provides medical testing services."
"Tuberculosis requires immediate reporting and a coordinated response to identify exposed individuals, initiate appropriate treatment and prevent further transmission," said County Public Health Officer Dr. Sayone Thihalolipavan.
"Fortunately, in this case, the risk related to the suspected cases was low, but failure to communicate promptly is a serious breach of basic public health protocol and creates unacceptable risk for detainees, staff, visitors and the surrounding community. Unfortunately, this issue was also documented in the attorney general's recent report from their inspection in 2025."
The county sued after a February visit by county officials was turned away and a federal judge ruled San Diego Public Health has the authority to conduct a health and safety inspection of the center.
"The ruling affirms the county's authority to conduct these independent inspections to protect those at the facility and inform the public about the conditions," said County Counsel Damon Brown. "The county brought this action against the facility operators to enforce state and local rights to inspect federal detention facilities.
"The June 2026 preliminary injunction ruling allowed the county to conduct this inspection pending final relief on the merits. The county will continue to pursue its legal action, to obtain a final judgment that will affirm the county's rights to conduct future inspections."
In June, Thihalolipavan, San Diego County Director of Environmental Health Heather Buonomo and two consultants with the National Commission on Correctional Health Care conducted an eight-hour inspection of the facility. They inspected various areas of the facility, reviewed policies and procedures, had discussions with detainees and staff, and viewed medical records.
The facility was recently sold to the federal government but continues to be operated by CoreCivic.
"The county does not believe the sale will impact future inspections because the statute allows the county to inspect `private detention facilities' which are defined as detention facilities `operated by a private, nongovernmental, for-profit entity' pursuant to a contract with a governmental entity," a county statement read.
County attorneys are preparing for an Early Neutral Evaluation in federal court in early October, a confidential, mandatory court process designed to fast-track settlements where feasible, a statement from the county read.
In June, CoreCivic spokesman Ryan Gustin told CalMatters the company's top priority is "the safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care.
"We fully respect the judicial process and remain committed to working with both ICE and San Diego County to find a mutually agreed-upon resolution to this matter," he said.
