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Ending County Facilities Use by ICE and CBP for Firearms Training (Districts: All)
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Overview
Across San Diego County, families are afraid to seek help from the very public institutions meant to protect them. Parents worry that taking a child to school, reporting a crime, or showing up for a medical appointment could expose a loved one to immigration enforcement.
Those concerns have intensified as immigration enforcement activity has increased across the region. According to recent data provided in response to a letter from Congressman Mike Levin, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents removed more than 16,000 people from San Diego County between January 2025 and April 2026, while refusing to disclose how many had criminal records, a level of secrecy that leaves families with no way to know whether due process was followed at all.
Rising enforcement operations, and the fear that comes with them, have eroded trust in all levels of government. Since the start of the second Trump Administration, there have been at least 41 separate shooting incidents, resulting in 11 fatalities, carried out by federal immigration agents during the mass deportation campaign. Separate from these direct shooting deaths, at least 43 people have died while under ICE custody.
The County has spent the past year making clear that no one should fear their own county government. We enacted a strong L-2 Board Policy, Cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, adopted the CLEAR Ordinance, expanded Know Your Rights training for small businesses, and took legal action to ensure health and safety inspections at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. Letting ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) train at County facilities is directly at odds with this work.
At the same time, ICE and CBP’s San Diego Field Office have been using a County-owned facility for firearms training. Under license agreements signed in 2021, before the Board’s current policies were in place, both agencies train at the San Diego Regional Firearms Training Center at 440 Alta Road. The agreement was small enough to be signed administratively, meaning this Board, and the public, never had an opportunity to weigh in before ICE and CBP began training on County property. This is not how County property should be used.
Since 2024, ICE and CBP have logged approximately 3,350 hours at the facility. The license agreements do not technically violate the County’s L-2 policy, a distinction that means little to families who see County resources prop up the same agencies inciting fear throughout our neighborhoods. County facilities are public assets, and we have the responsibility to ensure their use aligns with the County’s adopted policies and public commitments.
ICE also holds a separate license agreement with the County for use of the Miramar Training Facility, a firing range owned by the U.S. Navy on Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and leased to the County. That agreement, signed in 2022, similarly allows ICE to use County-leased property for training purposes.
Today's action directs the Chief Administrative Officer to terminate the license agreements with ICE and CBP for use of these County-owned and County-leased facilities. This Board will not allow County assets to be used against the very communities we have pledged to protect.
Body
Recommendation by Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Chair Pro-Tem Paloma Aguirre
1) Direct the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to terminate the following County license agreements, consistent with each agreement’s written notice requirements:
a. The 2021 license agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the 2017 license agreement with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, San Diego Field Office, for use of the San Diego Regional Firearms Training Center, located at 440 Alta Road, San Diego, CA 92154.
b. The 2022 license agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for use of the Miramar Training Facility, located at Miramar Marine Corps Air Base, Camp Elliot, East Miramar Road in San Diego.
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Equity Impact Statement
Increased immigration enforcement activity has generated significant fear among vulnerable communities across San Diego County, including mixed-status households, immigrant families, and individuals who rely on public services but fear that accessing them could expose themselves or loved ones to enforcement action. When County facilities are used by federal immigration enforcement agencies, that fear is compounded, making it harder for residents to seek medical care, report crimes, enroll children in school, or engage with local institutions. Terminating these agreements reaffirms that County assets exist to serve all residents and supports the County's broader commitment to ensuring that fear of immigration enforcement does not become a barrier to accessing public services.
Sustainability Impact Statement
This action supports the County's resiliency goals by strengthening trust between local government and vulnerable communities. When residents fear that County facilities are connected to immigration enforcement, they are less likely to seek public health services, report crimes, or engage with emergency response systems, undermining the County's capability to respond to community needs. Terminating these agreements helps ensure that all residents, regardless of immigration status, can access County services and participate in the systems that support individual, family, and community resilience.
Fiscal Impact
The actions requested in today’s recommendations to terminate license agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would result in the loss of revenue included in the current Fiscal Year (FY) 2026-27 Operational Plan in the Sheriff’s Office and in future years. Funds anticipated from the agreements for use of the San Diego Regional Firearms Training Center (Recommendation 1(a)) total an estimated $126,780 of federal revenue annually including $10,140 from ICE, and $116,640 from CBP.
If approved, this request would result in a reduction of revenue for these agreements beginning in FY 2026-27. There will be no change in net General Fund cost and no additional staff years.
Business Impact Statement
Immigration enforcement carries significant economic consequences for San Diego County's workforce and business community. A May 2026 study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that for every six undocumented workers who leave the labor force due to heightened ICE activity, one U.S.-born male worker loses their job as well. This occurs because immigrant and native-born workers are economic complements in key industries, when immigrant labor disappears from construction, agriculture, and related sectors, businesses contract their operations rather than seek replacements, reducing employment opportunities for all workers. The study found no evidence that increased enforcement has expanded job opportunities or raised wages for U.S.-born workers. The use of County facilities to support federal immigration enforcement is inconsistent with the County's interest in maintaining a stable and productive regional economy.
Advisory Board Statement
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Background
The San Diego Regional Firearms Training Center is a County-owned facility at 440 Alta Road in Otay Mesa, constructed in 1996 through a partnership between the County and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and operated jointly by the Sheriff's Office, the District Attorney's Office, and the FBI.
In July 2021, a 10-year license agreement was executed authorizing ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations to use the facility for firearms training. Because the agreement fell below the dollar threshold requiring Board approval and pursuant to San Diego County Administrative Code Section 73.2(b)(2), it was executed administratively. The Board did not consider it, and it received no public deliberation. A similar 2017 license agreement allows CBP San Diego Field Office to train at the County facility. Neither agreement surfaced publicly until an April 2026 investigative report by iNewsource brought them to light - five years after the ICE agreement was signed, and nine years after the CBP agreement. Since 2024, ICE and CBP have collectively logged approximately 3,350 hours at the facility.
The licenses do not technically violate the County's L-2 policy, which prohibits cooperation with ICE in its civil immigration enforcement efforts, because firearms training does not technically constitute enforcement activity. But both agreements are fundamentally at odds with the public commitments and policy direction this board has advanced.
ICE also holds a separate license agreement with the County for use of the Miramar Training Facility, a firing range owned by the U.S. Navy on Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and leased to the County. That agreement similarly allows ICE to use County-leased property for training purposes.
This County has worked to make one thing clear: no one should fear their own government. The L-2 policy, the CLEAR Ordinance, small business Know Your Rights training, and legal action to secure health and safety inspections at the Otay Mesa Detention Center all grew out of that commitment. Federal immigration and detention agencies training on County facilities, out of public view, sits squarely against it.
Linkage To The County Of San Diego Strategic Plan
This action advances the County's 2026-2031 Strategic Plan goals under Resiliency, by ensuring that all residents, regardless of immigration status, can access County services and participate in community life without fear; under Economic Opportunity, by dismantling barriers facing traditionally underserved communities and businesses and advancing economic growth for all individuals; and under Engagement, by affirming the County's commitment to building trust with communities that have historically had limited access to local government and its decision-making processes.
Respectfully submitted,
Terra Lawson-Remer Paloma Aguirre
Supervisor, Third District Supervisor, First District
Attachment(s)
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