![\"Paradise](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SUT-L-ICEHOSPITALS-005.jpg\")
Paradise Valley Hospital, as seen in National City on Friday, April 10, 2026. (Kristian Carreon \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\nLocal hospitals are treating significantly more U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees under the Trump administration, federal data show.<\/p>\n
At least 59 ICE detainees received care at San Diego County hospitals from January to mid-October of last year, up from 29 during the entire prior year, according to ICE agency data obtained by the Deportation Data Project via a public record request and analyzed by The San Diego Union-Tribune.<\/p>\n
Nationwide, hospital ICE detentions rose from about 1,300 in 2024 to 1,900 from January to mid-October of 2025, the data show. ICE has since stopped releasing data detailing detentions at hospitals in response to the project\u2019s record requests, so such data is not available after October.<\/p>\n
Paradise Valley Hospital, as seen in National City on Friday, April 10, 2026. (Kristian Carreon \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
In most cases, an ICE hospital detention means somebody who was already in ICE custody was taken to the hospital in need of medical care, hospitals say. In a few cases, a detainee in local law enforcement custody may be transferred to ICE custody while they are already at the hospital.<\/p>\n
Officials say ICE does not arrest people at hospitals, but some local hospitals have policies anyway to minimize front-line workers\u2019 interaction with federal agents. Policies instruct them to share no patient information with agents and block them from accessing non-public areas of the hospital unless they have a judicial warrant.<\/p>\n
Hospitalizations of ICE detainees have risen as ICE arrests have skyrocketed under the Trump administration. In the San Diego region, last year\u2019s ICE arrests rose<\/a> by more than 1,300% from 2024.<\/p>\n A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency does not arrest anyone at hospitals, but it takes detainees to hospitals for medical care.<\/p>\n \u201cICE does not conduct enforcement at hospitals \u2014 period,\u201d the spokesperson said in an email. \u201cWe would only go into a hospital if there were an active danger to public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n The spokesperson added:\u00a0\u201cOf course, if we have a detainee we need to take to the hospital for medical care, we have officers accompany them for their monitoring, safety of the staff, and the public. This is standard procedure for all law enforcement agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n Paradise Valley Hospital in National City has seen the most ICE detainees in San Diego County, with 34 from January to October 2025, according to the data. Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center had 11, while Alvarado Parkway Institute in La Mesa had 10 and UC San Diego Medical Center had four.<\/p>\n \u201cWe comply with all applicable patient privacy laws, including Senate Bill 81, which prohibits health care facilities from granting immigration enforcement access to patients or nonpublic areas without a valid judicial warrant or court order and requires patient immigration status to be treated as protected information,\u201d Sharp said in a written statement.<\/p>\n Like Sharp, Paradise Valley\u00a0said in a written statement that it does \u201cnot allow ICE on our property without a judicial warrant.\u201d<\/p>\n ICE agents do accompany detainees when they receive care, but must \u201cremain with their patients and are not allowed to walk around our hospital facility,\u201d said Paradise Valley media representative Ben Macapugay in an email.<\/p>\n Given San Diego\u2019s proximity to the border, local hospitals have regularly received federal immigration detainees, most often transported by agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, for decades.<\/p>\n The matter reached an inflection point after the first Trump administration increased the height of the section of the border wall in San Diego County, which was completed in late 2019. With the number of traumatic injuries attributed to falls increasing rapidly, the number of Border Patrol transports to hospital intensive care units reached new highs<\/a>.<\/p>\n With changes in border policy at the start of the second Trump administration, however, the number of falls\u00a0has decreased.<\/p>\n Instead, anti-ICE activists are concerned that poor conditions at detention centers could be contributing to hospitalizations.<\/p>\n \u201cConditions are so deplorable and don\u2019t have adequate resources to help people that are in need of medical attention, and so we\u2019ve seen people be transported (to hospitals) to get them access to health care,\u201d said Benjamin Prado, program coordinator for the U.S.-Mexico Border Program of the American Friends Service Committee, who helps conduct local ICE patrols.<\/p>\n ICE detainees have complained of poor-quality food, lack of medical attention and other health issues as several detention centers have exceeded<\/a> their contractual capacity under President Donald Trump. Meanwhile 33 people died<\/a> in ICE custody last year, as reported by the federal agency.<\/p>\n Last month, San Diego County sued<\/a> federal agencies and private prison operator CoreCivic, which runs ICE\u2019s Otay Mesa Detention Center, to conduct a full health inspection of the facility after county officials said ICE denied them the opportunity. More recently, San Diego congressional Reps. Sara Jacobs and Mike Levin went on a pre-planned oversight visit<\/a> of the center. Levin reported the center\u2019s clinic has 13 health care staff, including two doctors, for a facility that has housed more than 1,500 detainees at once under Trump.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for CoreCivic said its detention centers have on-site medical clinics staffed with licensed providers and all detainees have daily access to sign-ups for medical care. Spokesperson Brian Todd said Otay Mesa was recently reaccredited by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care for meeting the commission\u2019s care standards, and CoreCivic\u2019s detention centers undergo regular reviews and audits.<\/p>\n \u201cThe health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care is our top priority.\u202fWe take seriously our responsibility to adhere to all applicable federal detention standards in our ICE-contracted facilities, including (Otay Mesa Detention Center),\u201d Todd said in an email.<\/p>\n![\"Paradise](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SUT-L-ICEHOSPITALS-004.jpg\")
Paradise Valley Hospital, as seen in National City on Friday, April 10, 2026. (Kristian Carreon \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n