A new San Diego County report released today finds that the average daily population at the Otay Mesa Detention Center has increased by approximately 200 percent in recent years — a dramatic surge County officials say is intensifying overcrowding, raising public-health concerns, and significantly increasing the cost of providing legal representation to protect constitutional due-process rights.

The report comes as the County seeks a preliminary injunction in federal court after being denied access to conduct a scheduled public-health inspection of the facility. County leaders have raised concerns that the detention surge is straining conditions inside the center at a time when safety, sanitation, and access to medical care are increasingly at issue.

Because the County’s Immigrant Legal Defense Program (ILDP) provides legal representation only to individuals who are detained or subject to alternative detention, rising detention levels are directly expanding the number of people eligible for assistance. The report finds the program’s average monthly active detained caseload has grown from about 56 clients in FY 2021-22 to nearly 800 in FY 2024-25, with projections of roughly 1,200 active clients per month this fiscal year.

County officials said the surge reflects both new detained individuals entering the system and the prolonged detention of clients whose immigration cases often span multiple years — a dynamic that is driving sustained increases in attorney staffing needs and long-term program costs.

County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer said the findings show how federal detention policies are creating downstream fiscal and constitutional pressures for local governments.

 “Mass detention is a policy choice, and it is creating both a constitutional crisis and growing public-health concerns as facilities struggle to keep pace,” Lawson-Remer said. “People are being swept off our streets and locked in overcrowded facilities while local officials are blocked from inspecting conditions. As due-process protections are eroded at the federal level, counties like ours are being forced to step in, at significant cost, to defend the Constitution and the rule of law.”

Oversight Dispute Highlights Due-Process Concerns

The report is being released amid the County’s ongoing legal battle with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after federal officials denied access for a scheduled public-health inspection at the Otay Mesa Detention Center.

County leaders said reports from attorneys representing detained clients have raised serious concerns about conditions inside the facility. After federal authorities refused to allow inspectors to enter, the County filed suit to enforce its oversight authority.

“When local officials are prevented from inspecting detention facilities, legal representation becomes one of the only safeguards protecting health, safety, and constitutional rights,” Lawson-Remer said.

Detention Surge Driving Long-Term Fiscal Pressures

The report warns that continued increases in detention levels, combined with the multi-year nature of immigration cases, are expected to significantly increase demands on the County’s legal defense program.

Projected representation costs are estimated to reach approximately $12.6 million in FY 2026-27 and $17.3 million in FY 2027-28, compared to the program’s current annual funding level of about $5 million.

Call for Federal Reform and State Partnership

County leaders said the report serves as an early warning that current federal immigration policies are creating unsustainable fiscal and constitutional pressures on local governments nationwide.

Chair Lawson-Remer called for:

• Comprehensive federal immigration reform to reduce reliance on prolonged detention
  
  
• Faster immigration court processing to limit unnecessary detention time
  
  
• State partnership and funding support to help local jurisdictions uphold constitutional due-process protections

“If Washington can spend billions expanding detention, it must also take responsibility for fixing the system,” Lawson-Remer said.
“Local communities cannot bear the cost alone of protecting residents from arbitrary detention and ensuring the rule of law is upheld.”

Click HERE to read the full report.