WATCH: Padilla Denied Entry to Otay Mesa Detention Center by ICE

SAN DIEGO, CA - Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, was denied entry to Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego while he attempted to exercise his Congressional oversight role amid reports of inhumane conditions individuals detained at the facility are facing. Padilla was turned away by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials from conducting a critical oversight visit into the private CoreCivic facility and meeting with local ICE leadership amid President Trump's mass detention and deportation campaign. The warden also refused to meet with the Senator. Padilla did not give advanced notice to the facility prior to his oversight visit.

Under ICE's watch, detained individuals at Otay Mesa are struggling with poor nutrition, sickness, inadequate medical care, and severe overcrowding. Multiple reports last year uncovered that Otay Mesa is approximately 100 people over capacity - between October 1 and November 10, the facility held an average of 1,456 people in ICE custody, exceeding CoreCivic's contractual capacity of 1,358. ICE refused to provide even basic information without approval from ICE headquarters, including how many people are being detained.

Detained individuals at Otay Mesa have been throwing notes attached to lotion and shampoo bottles out of the facility to shed light on these horrific conditions during a weekly vigil held by a coalition of seven local groups. The groups have been gathering for the last 15 weeks every Sunday outside of Otay Mesa to protest the conditions inside.

"I came to Otay Mesa today to see firsthand the inhumane conditions detained individuals at the facility are facing, but Donald Trump's ICE continued to refuse any oversight of their cruelty. If individuals at Otay Mesa are actually 'well taken care of,' as Secretary Noem claims, then what does this Administration have to hide?" said Senator Padilla. "Detained individuals are throwing handwritten notes over the walls and fences to get the word out about their conditions: a severe lack of healthy food, large holding rooms without doors or even windows, constant sickness, and wholly inadequate medical care. Every single person inside that facility - the overwhelming majority of whom have no criminal record - is a human being deserving of respect and decency, with basic standards for accessing health care, food, and legal counsel. The American people deserve better than Trump's out-of-control ICE and CBP. And I will keep fighting and keep fulfilling my responsibility as a United States Senator to provide oversight until they get it."

ICE rejected Padilla's entry into the Otay Mesa Detention Center as the number of immigrants detained by the agency has swelled to over 66,500, after reaching 73,000 earlier this year - more than ever before in U.S. history. After 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025, the deadliest year since 2005, at least eight individuals have already died in their custody this year.

Last week, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem held a press conference at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry where she claimed that individuals held at the nearby facility are "well taken care of" and given food and medical attention despite notes from detained individuals claiming otherwise.

The Otay Mesa facility operates under less stringent and protective standards and still has not been inspected by the DHS Office of Inspector General since 2021. At the time, the DHS Inspector General found that Otay Mesa did not meet standards for grievances, segregation, or staff-detainee communications.

On February 9, San Diego County's public health officer announced the county's intent to investigate potential violations at the private facility, sending a letter to the facility's senior warden "assert[ing] the county's authority to examine health and safety conditions inside the privately operated immigration detention facility." The county officials were also denied entry today. Representative Juan Vargas (D-Calif.-52) previously tried to gain access to Otay Mesa, which is in his district, to inspect the facility, but was denied entry.

Today's attempted visit comes after Padilla and Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) conducted an oversight visit last month to the largest detention center in California, located in California City, to learn firsthand of the concerns surrounding the inhumane conditions detained individuals are facing at the private, for-profit facility. The Senators investigated reports of unsanitary and unsafe facility conditions, inadequate medical and mental health care, insufficient access to legal counsel, a severe lack of accommodations for people with disabilities, and the unnecessary use of solitary confinement. Last week, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering ICE to provide better access to health care and counsel to people detained at the facility.

Senator Padilla has strongly opposed President Trump's cruel and indiscriminate mass deportation agenda and denial of basic services for detained individuals. Last week, Padilla joined Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and 20 other Senate Democrats in sounding the alarm on the dramatic increase in deaths in ICE detention, with over 30 deaths since the start of the Trump Administration. In January, Padilla joined Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in introducing the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act to end the use of private, for-profit detention facilities, prohibit the practice of detaining families, and ensure due process for detained individuals. Last year, Padilla cosponsored the Restoring Access to Detainees Act, a bill to ensure the Department of Homeland Security allows detained noncitizens to contact legal counsel and their families.

Video of Padilla's remarks following his attempted tour can be watched here and downloaded here. Padilla's remarks in Spanish are available here.

Additional photos and b-roll footage from the event are available here.

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