San Diego County supervisors are pushing to bar federal immigration agents from training at county-owned firing ranges, the latest move in an escalating standoff between local officials and the Trump administration over immigration enforcement in the region.
Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Vice Chair Paloma Aguirre announced the proposal Monday at a news conference at the county administration building, arguing that public facilities meant to serve San Diego residents should not double as training grounds for what they described as the federal government’s mass deportation campaign.
“Our local public facilities serve our residents — they do not exist to support federal immigration operations that ignore and trample due process and the rule of law,” Lawson-Remer said.
The two supervisors are calling for the county to terminate its agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection that allow agents to use county firing ranges. The measure is expected to go before the full Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
The proposal stands in contrast to a similar debate that played out in Escondido earlier this year. In February, that city’s council voted to uphold its own contract with the Department of Homeland Security allowing ICE and CBP to train at Escondido’s firing range, despite public backlash.
Aguirre and Lawson-Remer say the push to end the county’s arrangement is rooted in growing alarm over aggressive immigration enforcement tactics that they say have torn families apart and spread fear throughout San Diego communities.
“Parents are afraid to drop their kids off at school, afraid to go to the grocery store, afraid to walk to work — simple moments that should be safe,” Aguirre said. “And while all of this is happening, ICE and CBP have been training at county gun ranges.”
That fear has been fueled by a string of high-profile raids and arrests over the past year and a half. In May 2025, ICE agents raided Buona Forchetta restaurant in San Diego, arresting four people in an operation that drew widespread public outrage. Months later, in August, agents detained parents outside elementary schools in Encinitas, Chula Vista and San Diego.
A CalMatters investigation using government data found that immigration arrests in the region spiked 1,500% between May and October compared with the same period the previous year.
According to figures released by Rep. Mike Levin, a Democrat representing parts of San Diego and Orange counties, immigration authorities deported more than 16,000 people from San Diego County between Jan. 20, 2025, and April 1, 2026. Federal officials have said their enforcement priority is immigrants with serious criminal records, but Levin said ICE has not disclosed how many of those detained locally actually had criminal convictions.
Supervisors argue that the aggressive enforcement approach carries public safety risks of its own, discouraging some residents from reporting crimes or cooperating with local law enforcement out of fear of deportation.
“Providing training grounds for Trump’s deportation force is a slap in the face to our residents, and it undermines our clear commitment to the rule of law and civil rights here in San Diego County,” Lawson-Remer said.
Since 2024, federal immigration agents have logged roughly 3,350 hours at the Regional Firearms Training Center in Otay Mesa, near the border, according to county records. The agreements permitting ICE and CBP to use county firearms facilities date back to 2021 and generate an estimated $126,780 in revenue, according to a letter submitted to the board. Because the contracts fell below a certain dollar threshold, they were approved administratively and never required a vote from the Board of Supervisors.
The new proposal would end not only that arrangement but also the use of a separate range the county leases from the U.S. Navy at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
“The federal government cannot terrorize our families all week long and then rent our gun range on the weekends — not in this county, not anymore,” Aguirre said.
Federal immigration agencies did not respond to questions from CalMatters about the proposal. However, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said he was disappointed by the county’s move, warning that losing access to training facilities could lead to longer wait times at border crossings and San Diego International Airport.
Aguirre dismissed that warning, saying the relatively modest contract would have little bearing on federal operations. “The lines at San Ysidro would not be a consequence of this board’s actions,” she said. “They would be a decision made by the Trump administration and funded by us here in San Diego.”
The firing range proposal marks the latest effort by county leaders to distance San Diego from federal immigration enforcement. In January, the Board of Supervisors approved the Civil Liberties Enforcement and Accountability Rules ordinance, known as the CLEAR ordinance, which restricts federal immigration agents’ access to non-public county spaces. That measure passed with support from Lawson-Remer, Aguirre and fellow Democrat Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, while the board’s two Republican members, Jim Desmond and Joel Anderson, voted against it.
In June, San Diego County also won a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security that granted county health officials the ability to conduct sanitary inspections at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. That legal victory came months after Lawson-Remer, Aguirre and County Public Health Officer Dr. Sayone Thihalolipavan were denied access to the facility.
Original source: CalMatters
