Private immigrant detention center in Otay Mesa sold to DHS as part of $1.5 billion deal
The Otay Mesa Detention Center is now owned by the federal government following a $1.5 billion deal that included a second California immigration detention facility, the private prison operator CoreCivic announced Monday.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security purchased the 1,994-bed Otay Mesa facility in San Diego for $739.2 million and the 2,560-bed California City Detention Facility in Kern County for $732.6 million. The sale was completed on Thursday, according to a news release from the Tennessee-based company.
"Asset transactions of this nature are not uncommon for government. We have previously completed facility sales to government partners, and operating government-owned facilities is a well-established model within our business," said CoreCivic spokesperson Ryan Gustin.
In the midst of the Trump administration’s efforts to increase deportations, the Otay Mesa facility, which houses immigrant detainees, has come under scrutiny from immigration advocates and some elected officials - including the county of San Diego, which filed a lawsuit to gain full access and conduct a public health inspection.
Gustin said the company expects to continue managing both detention centers under their existing contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement "with full continuity of our existing operations, staffed by our current CoreCivic workforce."
But the company said that the terms of management contracts "may be modified to reflect the change in ownership." The management contract for the Otay Mesa Detention Center ends in December 2029.
"The company can provide no assurance that it will continue to manage these facilities in the future, or that the terms of the existing management agreements will remain the same. As has always been the case, ICE has the ability to terminate the management contracts for non-appropriation of funds or for convenience," the company said.
CoreCivic also announced that it has been in discussions with ICE regarding the potential acquisition of more detention facilities.
A DHS spokesperson said on Tuesday the acquisition was made with funds from H.R. 1, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, "that allowed ICE to expand detention space to fulfill the President's promise of mass deportations."
"The state's sanctuary politicians continue to push legislation to outlaw or make private prisons financially infeasible," the spokesperson said. "Now, with federal ownership of these detention centers which are crucial to ICE's detention network on the west coast, ICE retains the detention capacity needed to arrest, detain, and remove illegal aliens.”
A federal judge last month ordered the Trump administration to allow county health officials to conduct a full public health inspection of the facility following a lawsuit filed by the county against DHS, ICE and CoreCivic.
County officials conducted an inspection that lasted nearly eight hours on June 12, according to a county spokesperson, and a report is expected at a later date.
"This is Trump's mass detention agenda getting bigger, more permanent, and more expensive - with CoreCivic getting a billion-dollar payday while still running the cages," said county Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer in a statement regarding the sale. "DHS may own the building, but it does not own the law. San Diego County will keep fighting for oversight, transparency, and due process at Otay Mesa."
Elected leaders and immigration advocates have expressed concern following reports of poor conditions inside the facility, including overcrowding, untreated medical conditions, freezing temperatures and contaminated food. Both the DHS and CoreCivic have denied these claims.
Under state law, the California Attorney General’s Office is also responsible for reviewing civil immigration facilities in California and publishing a report of its findings.
The most recent report, published in May, revealed a 21% increase in population at the Otay Mesa facility, rising from 1,187 detainees at the time of the office's visit in 2023 to 1,433 individuals by October 2025.
During the first 14 months of President Donald Trump's second term, ICE detained about 10,500 individuals in San Diego and Imperial counties, according to ICE data.
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This story was originally published July 7, 2026 at 9:35 AM.