REGION — The average daily population at the Otay Mesa Detention Center has increased by approximately 200% in recent years, according to a report released Saturday by San Diego County.
County officials said the increase is raising public health concerns and significantly increasing the cost of providing legal representation to protect constitutional due process rights.
Some county leaders say the surge in detentions is straining conditions inside the facility at a time when safety, sanitation and access to medical care are increasingly at issue. The report was released as the county seeks a preliminary injunction in federal court after being denied access to conduct a scheduled public health inspection of the facility.
“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,” San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra 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.”
Lawson-Remer said that because the county’s Immigrant Legal Defense Program 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 found the program’s average monthly active detained caseload grew from about 56 clients in fiscal year 2021-22 to nearly 800 in fiscal year 2024-25, with projections of roughly 1,200 active clients per month in the current fiscal year.
Officials said the surge reflects both newly detained individuals entering the system and the prolonged detention of clients whose immigration cases often span multiple years, a dynamic driving sustained increases in attorney staffing needs and long-term program costs.
The report was 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 in February.
“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.
Projected legal representation costs were estimated to reach about $12.6 million next year and $17.3 million in fiscal year 2027-28. The program’s current annual funding level is about $5 million.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
