ICE Detainees at Otay Mesa Throw Lotion Bottles Over the Fence With Desperate Notes Asking for Food and Help

Something simple and strange started it all. A small plastic bottle, wrapped with a handwritten note, landed over the tall chain‑link fence at the Otay Mesa Detention Centre in San Diego. It looked bleak and odd — but it carried a message.

One detainee was trying to tell the world they were suffering.

The note, tied to a lotion bottle and flung over the fence, talked about months without fresh food, freezing temperatures, and never seeing daylight. Organisers who gather weekly outside the detention centre say this is far from an isolated plea. These bottles with notes have become a silent cry for help.

People detained at Otay Mesa, which is run by a private company but holds people for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have apparently used everyday items to communicate with the outside world.

Volunteers have collected multiple notes. According to L.A. Taco, each one points to similar complaints: constant sickness, no fruit for months, and living in cells without doors or windows.

Supporters call these gestures acts of desperation. When phones, letters, and regular contact are limited, desperate people will find desperate ways to be heard.

Local Authorities Begin Official Review

San Diego County officials have now started the early steps of a public health inspection of the Otay Mesa centre.

Under California's Health and Safety Code, counties can inspect facilities within their borders, even ones run by private firms. The inspections are meant to look at basic living conditions in response to complaints from locals and letters from detainees themselves.

County supervisors have stressed that their authority covers places like Otay Mesa. And this is even though it technically holds individuals for the federal government. The move towards inspection shows that officials are taking the allegations seriously — at least on paper.

Federal oversight has also come into focus.

U.S. Representative Juan Vargas tried to visit the centre as part of an oversight effort but was refused entry. He called that 'outrageous.' He added that repeated reports from detainees about poor food and illness should have made access easier.

The refusal raised more questions about how transparent the facility really is.

What Detainees and Advocates Are Saying

Every Sunday, volunteers and advocacy groups show up at the fence.

They bring blankets, snacks, and open ears. They shout messages back and forth with people inside. They jot down A‑numbers — the official identification numbers detainees give them — so family members can send money or contact lawyers. Sometimes, detainees make phone calls that are paid for by supporters.

Former detainees and volunteers paint a grim picture of life inside not just Otay Mesa. But detention centres across the U.S. They talk about overcrowding, no fresh fruit or vegetables, poor medical care and cramped cells. Some describe being locked in tiny rooms during disciplinary actions, making they feel even more cut off from life outside.

The bottles over the fence have become the most visible sign of something deeper.

For many families, they are the only proof that their loved ones are still there and struggling.

Legal Limits on Detainee Communication

None of this note‑sending is officially allowed.

Federal rules and ICE policies generally forbid passing unauthorised messages or items over the fence. That's meant to protect security and safety. But volunteers say it shows a painful truth: detainees have almost no easy way to reach out.

Organisers handle the notes carefully. They worry that if facility staff find the messages, detainees could be punished — losing yard time, phone access, or commissary privileges. That risk doesn't stop people from trying. Because inside those walls, contact with the outside world can feel like a lifeline.

This tension shows how limited detainees' rights are when it comes to communication. Their access to phones, lawyers and families is tightly controlled.

Allegations of Inhumane Treatment in ICE Detention Centres

But these reports from Otay Mesa is not an isolated case. Detainees say they face overcrowded conditions, poor medical care, limited fresh food, and long periods in windowless spaces. Some former detainees claim they were denied access to lawyers and subjected to punitive isolation for minor rule breaches.

Recent incidents across U.S. detention centres have included extended lockdowns, confiscation of personal items, and what people describe as medical neglect. Critics have one word for it: torture, especially when people are held for months without a clear end date.

Experts and advocates argue these conditions fall short of both federal detention standards and basic human rights norms. The hand‑thrown messages, odd as they seem, have forced the public to pay attention.

They add urgency to calls for independent oversight and better enforcement of humane treatment rules.