CA Dems sound alarm over new ICE detention center policy

When the lawmakers showed up at the Otay Mesa detention facility in San Diego earlier this month, they showed up unannounced. 

“Our intention was to do two things: It was to see the condition of the facility, to try the food, drink the water, see the medical facilities,” explained Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., who visited the facility with Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif. 

“But second, and very important, it was to have an unannounced meeting with detainees. In other words, to go and speak off the cuff with detainees to try to understand better what their actual circumstances were,” he added.

Last year, a dozen lawmakers sued the Trump administration for attempting to block these types of visits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. They won the lawsuit. 

But Levin says ICE is now attempting to further block congressional oversight of these facilities. When he arrived at Otay Mesa on May 11, he was handed a letter with the same date that was signed by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. The letter outlined a new policy that said members of Congress cannot speak to detainees unless they have given two days’ notice and have consent from the detainee in writing. 

“They’re trying to take away the external oversight mechanism of Congress. It’s unacceptable. All we want is transparency and accountability, and we want security, but we also want decency and humanity,” Levin said. 

“If they know we’re coming, then they have time to clean up and to make things appear better than they actually are. And we have to make sure that’s not happening,” he continued. “The only way to do that is unannounced.”

Spectrum News reached out to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to confirm this new policy and ask when it was enacted. A spokesperson for DHS did not confirm the policy’s enactment date, but told us, “If an illegal alien and a member of Congress agree to meet with one another, ICE will facilitate the meeting. We are not stopping members of Congress from meeting with illegal aliens, including many with criminal histories in ICE custody or touring ICE facilities.”

That same spokesperson told Spectrum News that in 2025 there were more congressional visits to ICE facilities than under the previous administration. 

“These requests must be part of legitimate congressional oversight activities, and far too often they are just for a media act. Without proper support, such visits threaten the safety of ICE personnel, the detainees and members of Congress alike,” the statement read.

Under Article I of the Constitution, members of Congress are granted “all legislative powers,” which the Supreme Court has affirmed includes investigative powers and oversight of the executive branch — that includes agencies like ICE.

Levin’s visit to Otay Mesa came just days before a new report from the California Department of Justice, which spent time inspecting ICE facilities across the state. The report found severe overcrowding, freezing temperatures and spoiled food in the facilities. 

In an interview with Spectrum News, California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the results of the inspections “unacceptable.”

“It’s cruel, it’s inhumane, and needs to change, and we are seeing basic needs like access to clean water, or access to food that is appetizing and nourishing, or adequate health care — those things are not being provided even though the contract that the federal government has with these for-profit private corporations, CoreCivic and GEO Group, requires that all those things be provided,” said Bonta.

A spokesperson for GEO Group told Spectrum News in a statement that all services are monitored by ICE, and “in the event issues are identified, we quickly resolve all of ICE’s concerns as required by ICE’s Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan.” 

The spokesperson also said GEO provides “around-the-clock access to medical care, in-person and virtual legal and family visitation, general and legal library access, translation services, dietician-approved meals, religious and specialty diets, recreational amenities, and opportunities to practice their religious beliefs.”

CoreCivic, which oversees Otay Mesa, pushed back on “accuracy of several findings” in the report, with spokesman Ryan Gustin telling Spectrum News it does not reflect documented operational records at the company’s California City and Otay Mesa facilities.

“The safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care is our top priority. We take seriously our responsibility to adhere to all applicable federal detention standards in our ICE-contracted facilities, including the California City and Otay Mesa facilities, which are subject to multiple layers of oversight by our government partners, including auditors knowledgeable in the federal government’s detention standards who regularly conduct on-site inspections.”

Gustin added that detainees have access to daily healthcare services, “including screening, prevention, health education, diagnosis and treatment,” and that emergency care “is available 24 hours a day, seven days per week.”

But Rep. Levin says the report from Bonta’s office is proof that members of Congress need access to these facilities. 

In 2017, during the first Trump administration, California passed a law to allow the state DOJ to investigate and report on the conditions inside ICE facilities, making it the only state in the country with such unique oversight. Bonta said he worries what conditions may be like in ICE facilities in other states.

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant, so we are conducting these reviews. We’ve done it multiple times over multiple years, and even with these reviews, the substandard conditions that already existed are getting worse,” he said. 

The DHS spokesperson told Spectrum News that “being in detention is a choice” made by the individuals being held at these facilities.

“We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now,” said the spokesperson. “We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.

To read the full report from the California DOJ on ICE facility conditions, click here.