Why a company is investigating rapes at an ICE detention center, not the sheriff
7 hours ago
- #immigration detention
- #law enforcement
- #sexual assault
- San Diego County Sheriff’s officials failed to investigate at least seven reported sexual assaults at the Otay Mesa immigration detention center in 2025.
- A 2020 memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the sheriff’s department and CoreCivic gives the detention center warden authority to decide whether to investigate rape allegations.
- CoreCivic, a for-profit prison contractor, conducts administrative investigations but does not perform criminal investigations, referring potential criminal matters to law enforcement.
- ICE officials did not respond to requests for comment on the handling of sexual assault allegations at the facility.
- Advocacy groups and local officials express concern over the lack of law enforcement involvement in investigating sexual assaults at the detention center.
- San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez cited staffing shortages as a reason for not investigating allegations at civil and criminal detention facilities.
- A 2022 audit found the Otay Mesa facility met federal standards for preventing sexual assaults, despite ongoing allegations.
- San Diego County is engaged in a legal battle with CoreCivic over blocked public health inspections at the detention center.
- 911 call logs from 2024 and 2025 show multiple calls related to the Prison Rape Elimination Act, including seven rape allegations in 2025.
- The sheriff’s department refused to release additional records, citing exemptions for law enforcement investigation files.