Judge indicates willingness to grant county request to inspect Otay Mesa detention facility

A federal judge indicated Wednesday that he will grant a request from San Diego County to conduct a public health inspection of the Otay Mesa Detention Center, though he said some of the county’s requests, such as having local lawmakers be part of the inspection team, will require additional arguments from the county.

San Diego County sued the federal government and private prison company CoreCivic earlier this year after a coalition of lawmakers — including County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Paloma Aguirre — were blocked from inspecting the facility. The county’s public health officer was provided access, but county officials say that inspection did not include access to medical records, confidential interviews with detainees, and a review of facility health policies.

U.S. District Judge James Simmons agreed with the county that it has authority to evaluate the conditions of the facility, but said some other requests from the county regarding the scope of what that inspection would look like were “broad and vague.”

Those requests include permitting “non-subject matter experts” to inspect the facility.

Attorneys representing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security argued in court filings that ICE determined the lawmakers who previously sought to enter the facility “were not public health professionals with the appropriate subject matter expertise to conduct health and safety inspections.”

County attorneys argue in their filings that the county’s health officer has the discretion to select the members of the inspection team.

Simmons, who gave both sides three weeks to file supplemental briefs on their respective positions before he would render a final decision, also said he wanted more information regarding what facility policies and procedures county officials would seek to review and how they would go about examining detainees.

Government attorneys said the county’s requests to interview detainees and review their medical records raised privacy concerns. They argued detainees were provided privacy waivers during previous Department of Justice inspections at the facility, an issue county officials didn’t address in their inspection requests.

The county denied that furnishing privacy waivers was the standard practice for such inspections. They argued in their filings that prior to other inspections, a notice was posted in detainee housing areas notifying any detainees who wish to speak to inspectors that they can. The county argued their team was not provided with this option during previous inspection attempts.