San Diego County’s board of supervisors voted 3-2 on Tuesday to terminate training contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection at county-owned facilities. The decision followed months of community advocacy opposing what residents characterized as the administration’s mass deportation campaign.
The contracts had been in place for several years, with ICE using county facilities since 2021 and CBP since 2017. According to supervisors proposing the change, federal agents logged more than 3,300 training hours at the county training center since 2024. ICE also maintains a separate agreement to use a Navy firing range leased by the county at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
Supervisors voting to end the contracts expressed concerns about federal immigration enforcement activities in their community and nationally. Monica Montgomery Steppe stated the county did not want to be “complicit” in actions she said had harmed communities. Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer characterized the county as “a home, not a target” and suggested the federal government use its own resources for immigration enforcement.
However, San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez, a separate elected official, announced she would allow CBP to continue using county facilities while terminating ICE’s access. Martinez argued that ending CBP’s training access would harm border communities and reduce local staffing capacity, thereby affecting trade and travel. CBP leadership stated the agency trains approximately 1,700 officers at the facility and warned that relocating training would reduce the number of officers available locally.
Opponents of the supervisors’ decision argued that training cooperation strengthens law enforcement capabilities. Supervisor Jim Desmond contended that the solution to agency overreach involves increased training rather than reduced collaboration. CBP leadership characterized the supervisors’ action as “unprecedented” and said it undermined border security. Several other communities, including Escondido in California and locations in New York and Minnesota, have faced similar questions but chose to maintain existing contracts.
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