The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has finalized the purchase of two immigrant detention facilities in California, including the Otay Mesa center, as the Trump administration accelerates its efforts to expand deportation capacity.
According to legal filings, the transactions were completed on July 2 for a combined total of approximately $1.5 billion. Both properties were previously owned by CoreCivic, a private prison operator that manages detention services for federal agencies.
The Otay Mesa facility, located in San Diego County along the U.S.-Mexico border, was acquired for $739.2 million, while the the California City detention center in Kern County, north of Los Angeles was purchased for $732.6 million.
Despite the change in ownership, CoreCivic will continue to oversee day-to-day operations at both sites under its existing contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The acquisition comes on the heels of congressional approval of a sweeping $70 billion funding package aimed at bolstering ICE, the Border Patrol, and other federal immigration enforcement agencies. The move signals an intensification of the administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigration.
However, the expansion has drawn sharp criticism from human rights organizations, which have long raised concerns about substandard conditions inside migrant detention facilities. Advocacy groups have also pointed to a rising death toll among detainees, citing public reports that recorded 52 fatalities in federal immigration custody during the first half of the year alone.
