County OKs mega-prison for immigrant detainees
By Leslie Berestein
2:00 a.m. May 26, 2009

IMMIGRATION LOCKUP BY THE NUMBERS

1,488: Number of beds in first phase of planned CCA jail on Otay Mesa.
684: Number of beds in the second phase.
700: Capacity of existing immigration jail.

SOURCES: County Department of Planning and Land Use, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

OTAY MESA — A private company's plans to build a mega-prison that could house immigrant detainees has received the go-ahead from the county.

Last month, after a temporary holdup over access to sewer lines, the county planning commission approved plans for Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corp. of America to build a “secure detention facilityâ€