An immigrant detainee died Saturday morning inside the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego.
According to a statement emailed by an unnamed spokesperson for CoreCivic, the Tennessee-based private prison company operating the facility, a staff member called in a medical emergency at approximately 11:36 a.m. Saturday after discovering an unresponsive person in a designated housing unit. Medical personnel arrived quickly, initiated lifesaving procedures, and contacted emergency medical services. Emergency crews continued resuscitation efforts upon arrival, but the individual was pronounced dead at the facility.
CoreCivic did not release the name, gender, or nationality of the deceased, directing all further inquiries to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Both ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Tuesday requests for comment. As of Monday evening, ICE had not published details of the fatality in its online news releases, where it typically reports information about those who died in its custody.
The fatality marks the seventh death of a person held in ICE custody in California under the current administration, and the first at the Otay Mesa facility since 2023. According to Daylight San Diego reporting by Kate Morrissey, the incident brings the known number of deaths in ICE custody this year to 30, following 33 deaths in 2025.
Official Responses and Local Inspection Inquiries
San Diego County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre issued a statement Tuesday calling on ICE and CoreCivic to rapidly contact the family of the deceased, cooperate fully with investigators, and make their findings public. Aguirre noted that she has formally asked the county public health officer to explore potential follow-up measures under a state law that grants local public health authorities the power to inspect ICE detention facilities.
Statement from Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre on the Death of a Person Detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center. pic.twitter.com/LxsDQTshHL
“Somewhere, a family is waiting for a phone call, and my heart is with them,” Aguirre wrote in her statement.
The death at Otay Mesa follows a national surge in detention figures, with the nationwide ICE population at one point ballooning past 70,000. Custodial fatalities have climbed alongside those larger populations.
Contemporaneous Deaths Across the Federal System
The Otay Mesa incident occurred just one day after another fatality within the federal immigration detention network. On Friday, 48-year-old Luis Sandoval, a Salvadoran immigrant, died of an apparent suicide at the Folkston D. Ray ICE Processing Center in Georgia, according to an ICE news release. Facility staff discovered Sandoval with a ligature around his neck.
Under established ICE policy, the agency is required to notify the public and Congress within two business days of a detainee’s death. More extensive reports about each death, which were typically three pages, must be released within 90 days, though those have been reduced to a few paragraphs.
Federal authorities have yet to clarify the timeline for releasing detailed investigative findings regarding the Otay Mesa death.
