Capital & Main investigation revealed ICE and CoreCivic denied an asylum seeker medical care for a kidney infection at Otay Mesa

A Capital & Main investigation published September 8, 2026, revealed that a Colombian asylum seeker held at the CoreCivic-operated Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego went months without adequate treatment for a worsening kidney infection, according to her own account and medical records reviewed by the outlet. She told the outlet she "came into this detention center healthy, looking for protection, a refuge, and it's been the complete opposite."

Her medical records, which give only month-level dates, document a monthslong pattern of denied and delayed care. In November 2025 she reported bleeding through four menstrual pads in an hour; a provider recommended exercise, looser clothing and ibuprofen. By January 2026 she had painful urination and blood in her urine, and a prescribed antibiotic did not resolve it. In February she fainted after heavy bleeding and was taken to Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, where a doctor noted a "bulbous appearance" of her uterus and recommended an ultrasound -- still pending at the end of March, when she again reported abdominal pain. Urinary symptoms recurred in April, and by May the antibiotic she had been given was not working; a urology referral and CT scan were not set until August, and a newly prescribed medication was unavailable at the facility. In late May, staff sent her back to Sharp Chula Vista's emergency room, where a doctor diagnosed syncope and back pain, told her to take ibuprofen, and sent her back to Otay Mesa despite an abnormal urinalysis -- his notes read "no acute disease." She was then hospitalized at Paradise Valley Hospital and diagnosed with pyelonephritis, a kidney infection, and given IV antibiotics. Back at Otay Mesa, she said, she did not receive her discharge medication and her condition worsened again, with symptoms including visible eye hematomas reported as recently as August 2026.

ICE did not respond to Capital & Main's requests for comment. CoreCivic spokesperson Ryan Gustin said the company "take[s] any allegation regarding medical care, staff conduct, or resident treatment seriously" and that adherence to its policies is required, without addressing the specific claims. Capital & Main reported that ICE has not directly paid for detainees' offsite medical care since October 2024, a shift the outlet said has contributed to delayed treatment for detainees nationally.