Today’s newsletter is presented by Treasure Chest 4 Less.
Good morning, San Diego ☀️
Here’s what we have for you today:
- Ever heard of a “Sushi Push Pop?” Me neither, but our intern, Andi Ruiz, tried out the newest fad that’s landed in Liberty Station.
- And shoutout to reader Alex Abubo, who correctly guessed the answer to yesterday’s “Step back in time” question. Scroll to the bottom to find out if you got the answer correct too.
Tessa Balc
Audience engagement producer
Top story
The federal government now owns the Otay Mesa Detention Center. Advocates say this is a fight over the future of immigration
This month the federal government purchased two detention centers, one of which was the nearby Otay Mesa Detention Center and the other was the California City Detention Center. The detention center, nearly 30 minutes from downtown San Diego, has been run by the private prison CoreCivic. And per its contract with the federal government, CoreCivic will continue to operate the ICE detention center until 2029, but the federal government owns the land it sits on.
There are some important questions to be asked around this sale. For one, why would the federal government purchase a detention center for nearly $579 million more than it was valued at? And what does this mean for the County’s efforts to inspect the facility amid claims of a lack of medical care and poor humanitarian conditions?
In terms of the purchase, it is not uncommon for ICE to purchase buildings for a notably higher amount than they are worth. A professor who studies immigration told our immigration reporter, Lillian Perlmutter, the agency is typically willing to pay above market value to move things along quickly.
The former chief of staff at ICE under the Biden administration told Perlmutter the high sale was likely to ease the nerves of the private prison’s investors, as CoreCivic could be cut out of future deals to operate detention centers.
But turning toward what this means for the local efforts to maintain oversight of Otay Mesa: Experts say there’s a real possibility access to inspect the facility may be cut off. Local governments, who under California state law are given the right to conduct health inspections, might no longer have that right as the detention center now sits on federal land.
A DHS spokesperson offered the agency’s reasoning for the purchase saying it was made to stymie California politicians efforts to “outlaw or make private prisons financially infeasible.”
While we might have insight into why the sale was made at the inflated amount it was, experts still say costs could come from it that we aren’t able to measure yet.
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Stories you should know about
🕯️ Bill Horn, longtime San Diego County supervisor and Vietnam veteran, dies at 83: The San Diego native held the District 5 seat on the Board of Supervisors from 1995 to 2018.
🪨 A ‘hole’ lot of problems — A look at La Mesa’s pothole complaints: Out of the 130 complaints about potholes from January to June the year, the most originated on Spring Street at the I-8 and I-94 on-ramps.
🌺 If you bought a Desert Willow plant from Costco recently, you might have brought home some invasive pests: The County is warning people who purchased the plant from June 24 through July 3 to dispose of it properly or call the County’s agricultural officials for help.
💥 ‘Shredding the Multiverse’ re-imagines some of best music from ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Spider-Man,’ more: Comic-Con hasn’t started yet, but adjacent fun is breaking out all over, in this case at UCSD’s Epstein Family Amphitheater, where three composers have shaped an evening of music from “popular shows of the past and present.”
👒 Del Mar holds 32nd annual Opening Day Hats Contest: The Grand Prize winner received a prize worth more than $2,500 for her larger-than-life star-spangled creation.
🌳 Opinion: Trump and conservation opponents attack our natural heritage
What else we’re reading
🎭 The Prebys Foundation as agreed to purchase the 99-year-old California Theatre for $6.3 million and promised to spend an undisclosed millions to tear it down. (Union-Tribune)
🚗 Abandoned vehicles have become a stark picture of the typical methods of immigration enforcement in San Diego. In some cases owners are gone without a trace, sometimes the engine has been left running. (KPBS)
Times of San Diego thanks our corporate sponsors. Find out more about sponsorships and advertising opportunities here.
Step back in time…
This was the San Diego College of Letters located in Pacific Beach. It would have sat on Garnet Avenue. Did you guess correct? Want to read more, check out this article.
