San Diego’s Congressional Delegation Finally Granted Entry to ICE Holding Center

CBS 8

By San Diego Monitor News Staff

SAN DIEGO — San Diego’s Congressional delegation conducted a joint visit Monday to the downtown federal courthouse basement detention center, aiming to assess conditions after weeks of denied access by federal officials.

The courthouse basement facility is operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the building is the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building in downtown San Diego.

Representatives Sara Jacobs, Juan Vargas and Scott Peters — all Democrats — walked into the facility after more than a month of requests to inspect it. Peters said the group spent about an hour inside and described what they saw: eight holding cells of varying sizes, each equipped with metal benches and toilets (some half-obscured by a wall), and a small number of detainees — during their visit, only three individuals were present.

One of those detainees was reportedly a plumber arrested while going to work. According to the lawmakers, that man appeared disoriented, and told them he had two children and had to call his wife after being taken into custody.

Though the delegation said conditions appeared “clean” during their visit, Rep. Peters expressed skepticism about whether the facility’s appearance reflected normal operating conditions or was simply cleaned up for their inspection. “We will never know whether they cleaned it up for us,” he said.

Advocates for immigrants and detainees, who have long warned of poor conditions in the basement facility, said the visit offered only a limited snapshot under controlled circumstances. They urged continued oversight, including unannounced inspections and full transparency around detainee treatment.

The members of Congress said they plan to follow up, formally request written documentation from ICE, and consider additional oversight steps to ensure detainees’ rights are being protected. The San Diego Monitor News will continue to follow and report on developments.