The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is expected to vote Tuesday, Aug. 18, to terminate three agreements that let ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents train at a county-owned firearms facility in Otay Mesa, a decision that would cut off access within 10 days.
Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre introduced the proposal, arguing the training deals contradict the county's CLEAR ordinance, which restricts federal law enforcement access to county facilities without a warrant. That ordinance passed in January on a 3-2 party-line vote.
"If the Trump administration wants to spend billions on this flawed deportation agenda, they can use their own federal resources to carry it out," Lawson-Remer said at a Monday, Aug. 17, press conference outside the County Administration Center.
The agreements allowed ICE and CBP to use the San Diego Regional Firearms Training Center at 440 Alta Road and, in one case, a facility at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. Since 2024, the agencies logged about 3,350 hours and spent nearly $235,000 at the Otay Mesa range, according to a Sheriff's Office billing sheet reported by inewsource. The contracts generate roughly $126,780 in annual revenue for the county, according to the supervisors' board letter reported by CalMatters.
The deals were signed between 2017 and 2022 and approved administratively, without a public board vote, because they fell below the dollar threshold requiring one. They were not publicly known until an April 2026 inewsource investigation.
CBP pushes back
CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott warned that roughly 1,700 CBP officers at San Diego County ports of entry rely on the Otay Mesa range as their only local facility for mandatory firearms qualifications. Termination would force officers to leave the region for training, he said, causing "an immediate reduction in deployable staffing" and longer wait times at San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate and San Diego International Airport, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Aguirre called those warnings a scare tactic. She noted CBP personnel have other local options including a U.S. Border Patrol firing range near the airport.
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Chris Cate said any policy limiting CBP training readiness would have "real consequences for our economy."
Local stakes
For Rancho Santa Fe and other unincorporated communities, the Board of Supervisors functions as the local governing body. The vote reflects a broader pattern: in June, the county won a lawsuit forcing DHS to allow health inspections of the Otay Mesa Detention Center. The Escondido City Council rejected a similar proposal to cancel an ICE training contract in February.
Supervisor Jim Desmond opposes the termination, arguing that more training for federal agents improves outcomes regardless of one's views on immigration enforcement, according to ABC 10News. Sheriff Kelly Martinez, who defended the agreements in April, shifted by Monday. Her office said she is now "evaluating the impacts of these decisions based on all stakeholder input."
The proposal is expected to pass with support from the board's three Democrats. The meeting began at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18; agenda and participation details are available at sandiegocounty.gov.
