Otay Mesa Detention Center

A San Diego federal judge refused on Tuesday to release 34 “medically vulnerable” detainees from the Otay Mesa Detention Center, which has the largest COVID-19 outbreak among the nation’s U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facilities.

Dozens of protesters in their cars, honked horns and circled in front of the Otay Mesa Detention Center on Sunday to demand the release of detainees amid a Coronavirus outbreak.

Protesters say the government has mishandled COVID-19 outbreaks in detention centers. NBC 7’s Ramon Galindo has more.

Migrant rights activists gathered on Saturday to commemorate the life of the first immigrant detainee who died of COVID-19 this week. Their message was clear: that the death of this immigrant not be left in vain. Dozens of people came together to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) release other migrants who might be inside the Otay Mesa Detention…

NBC 7’s Niala Charles was the Otay Mesa Detention Center as a vigil was held for Carlos.

A detainee who was at the Otay Mesa Detention Center and died from complications of COVID-19 has been identified by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Carlos Escobar-Mejia, 57, from El Salvador was pronounced dead on May 6 at 2:15 a.m. at Paradise Valley Hospital in National City, where he had been hospitalized since April 24, ICE said in a release….

“He was a loving brother, a person who cared about others, a person that wanted to cheer you up regardless of what was going on in his life.”

A detainee at the Otay Mesa Detention Center died from complications of COVID-19, San Diego County health officials confirmed Wednesday. The detainee was a 57-year-old male who was hospitalized in late April, according to Dr. Eric McDonald, Medical Director with the County Epidemiology Immunization Branch. The detainee died early Wednesday. This marked the first reported death from the virus among…

County officials confirmed the death during its press briefing on May 6, 2020.

A federal judge today, May 4, ordered the release of more than 72 detainees from the Otay Mesa Federal Detention Center.  A detainee inside Otay Mesa Federal Detention Center said the number could be much higher. By phone, detainee Anthony Alexandre told NBC 7 Investigates that prison administrators informed him that approximately 150 detainees will be released as a result…

An inmate at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, which houses detained immigrants, says sick inmates are denied adequate medical care, that staff are not passing out masks, and he fears that people will soon start dying if nothing changes.  Over the course of the past three days, the number of detainees who tested positive for COVID-19 has increased. On...

A San Diego federal judge ordered on Thursday that a group of “medically vulnerable” detainees at the Otay Mesa Detention Center be screened for release amid a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility.

Inmate at Otay Mesa Detention in California center says more than 100 detainees and dozens of employees sick with COVID-19

The American Civil Liberties Union’s San Diego chapter filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday calling for a drastic reduction in the number of detainees at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, where a COVID-19 outbreak has infected both detainees and staff members. The ACLU is also seeking an emergency temporary restraining order demanding the immediate release of all Otay Mesa detainees...

The ACLU says it fears the rapidly spreading virus may infect dozens more and risks severely infecting detainees with underlying conditions, reports NBC’s Melissa Adan.

People in about 30 cars staged a protest Saturday outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center claiming CoreCivic, the company that manages the site, is not doing enough to protect migrant detainees from COVID-19, authorities said. The protest happened about noon Saturday in the 7400 block of Calzada de la Fuente, according to San Diego Sheriff’s Sgt. Stan Bracy. The nonprofit…

Senator Kamala D. Harris said the center has the most COVID-19 cases of any ICE detention facility.

Detainees say it’s only a matter of time before infection spreads inside facility.

Detainees say it’s only a matter of time before the infection spreads inside the facility, reports NBC 7’s Alexis Rivas.

A woman who works at the Otay Mesa Detention Center claims the facility is not providing proper protection from coronavirus to its 400-plus offers in charge of caring for the detainees, despite another employee’s positive test results. The woman, who only wanted to be identified as Margaret, went on medical leave March 17 before the first case of COVID-19 was…