August 19, 2026 – San Diego County Sheriff’s Office officials report that Sheriff Kelly Martinez announced on Tuesday that she has notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials that they will no longer have access to or be allowed to use Sheriff's facilities for purposes of training and firearms qualifications. Sheriff Martinez made this decision after months of conversations and hearing community concerns surrounding the actions of ICE agents during armed confrontations in other parts of the country.

San Diego County law enforcement has long held strong partnerships and relationships that leverage varying capabilities of all local, state and federal agencies to best keep our communities safe.

"Community trust and strong relationships are the cornerstone of effective local policing," Martinez said.  "Our authority to enforce the law depends on the trust and confidence of the communities we serve, and I always balance my decisions based on community trust and public safety."

Sheriff Martinez recognizes that the County Board of Supervisors in a recent Board Action has directed the Chief Administrative Officer to have the Department of General Services terminate all lease agreements not only with ICE but also with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). After discussions with leaders throughout the region, she believes the community will not be well-served by eliminating CBP's use of County facilities because of impacts it would have at the border, including increased wait times and pollution in southern areas of the county.

While ICE serves a primary mission of enforcing federal immigration law, CBP's mission is to protect the American people, safeguard our borders and enhance the nation’s economic prosperity at the ports of entry, including land borders, cruise ship terminals, and airports. CBP officers are responsible for ensuring entry into the United States is safe and efficient, and for preventing the infiltration of drugs and other cross border organized criminal activity.  CBP officers are responsible for border security at the ports of entry - including anti-terrorism, anti-smuggling, determining admissibility, trade compliance, and agriculture protection - while simultaneously facilitating the lawful trade and travel at U.S. ports of entry that is critical to our Nation’s economy.

More than 225,000 people travel into the United States via San Diego ports of entry every day including over 90,000 vehicles, 50,000 pedestrians, and 5,500 commercial trucks.  This number doubles as those individuals travel back into Mexico. The wait times at the border are generally about 1 to 3 hours currently.  Additionally, CBP officers at the San Diego International Airport and Seaport process approximately 3,400 passengers, 7 international flight arrivals and over 100 laden cargo containers each day.  These operations are critical to national security, public safety, and the economic vitality of Southern California and the United States.  

Wait times at the land border crossings, cruise ship terminals and the airport are determined by available officers to staff the lanes and all the multitude of operations. These officers are required to perform their duties under training standards that include classroom and firing range qualifications. CBP officers must be able to complete this training efficiently and quickly to return to their duties at the border ports of entry, cruise ship terminals, and the airport. Without this ability, lanes will close and wait times will be extended. Extended wait times at the ports of entry will create an incredible impact on commerce and a workforce that impacts all industries. In addition, as cited by SANDAG (1, 2 and 3), pollution in the area will be exacerbated by idling cars at the ports of entry awaiting inspection and entry into the United States.

Sheriff Martinez has spent the past two weeks talking to community stakeholders.  Everyone she has spoken to reinforce the impact on local commerce, the economy, the area workforce and fears of congested roadways.  During a time when local budgets are experiencing enormous strain, it makes no sense to threaten our local economy.

CBP does not currently have another option for a training facility. As experienced by the San Diego Police Department who had to close their range on Home Avenue, it is not easy to find training facilities in the San Diego area. The United States Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS), Miramar base has a robust training facility that is also operated by the Sheriff's Office.

There are very limited non-Sheriff's ranges available at MCAS Miramar for CBP or other federal agencies. Adding travel time from the United States/Mexico border to MCAS Miramar for qualifications further removes officers from their primary function.  Without a path for officers to qualify with their firearms, they won’t be able to perform their duties and would be unable to meet the needs and demands at our ports of entry.

This change would not only affect the San Diego area Ports of Entry (POE) in Otay Mesa, San Ysidro and Tecate, but also Imperial County's Calexico POE.  Some Imperial County CBP officers also utilize the Otay Range for qualifications and training. The impacts to traffic crossing the border at the Calexico POE would also be significant as commuters, travelers and commercial traffic would likely seek alternate routes to San Diego POEs to avoid the longer wait times. 

Future options are being explored, but currently there are very limited available training spaces. Sheriff Martinez has been in conversations with potentially affected stakeholders and after careful consideration of impacts at the border, workers travelling to and from their jobs; children, young adults and college students crossing the border to attend school; and communities near the border, she will continue to allow CBP to utilize the Otay Range.

"Too many people on both sides of the border would be harmed by a decision to end CBP's use of the facility," Martinez said. "As Sheriff, I have a duty to protect and serve everyone who lives in or enters San Diego County."

Source: San Diego County Sheriff’s Office