"DHS new report finds Otay Mesa Detention Facility violated ICE standards," 18 Sept 2021

The Department of Homeland Security released a report that found the [Otay Mesa] detention facility did not follow standards and did not enforce COVID-19 safety measures. The new report filed by the Inspector General's Office outlines seven recommendations they are asking the facility to follow. Otay Mesa Detention Facility, along with ICE, has complied with six of the seven.

... Among the list were improper COVID-19 protocols, not allowing detainees to file grievances, improper response to those concerns, and not providing services like phone calls.

Core Civic ... [released] a statement which said: "We value the feedback we get from our government partners and strive to be responsive to their concerns. In terms of this report's recommendations, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that all but one have been resolved, and the final one was an area where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) didn't concur with the OIG. We will continue to work hard to provide a safe and healthy environment for those entrusted to our care."

An ACLU-SDIC Immigrants' Rights Staff Attorney released the below statements: "The DHS Office of Inspector General’s recent report about the Otay Mesa Detention Center is yet one more piece of evidence in the mounting list of reports of unsafe and abusive conditions of confinement that facility. ... Meanwhile, the purely profit-driven motivations of private prison companies mean that U.S. taxpayers pay CoreCivic for incarceration that is inhumane and, as this report proves, unnecessary, while the corporation takes a windfall.