Santa Clara County on Tuesday said it will join San Jose in its efforts to keep federal immigration agents away from some local facilities and public spaces.
Elected leaders joined immigrant rights groups to deliver the message.
“Our city facilities were built to serve our residents, not to be used as staging grounds for federal immigration operations,” San Jose Councilman Peter Ortiz said.
The elected officials said they will introduce legislation for a South Bay regional alignment – a buffer zone of sorts. The dual policies would prohibit the use of city or county property for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations without prior written authorization from a judge.
“Let us be clear: ICE is not welcome on our county facilities and controlled lands,” Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said. “These lands serve critical needs for our community, and immigration enforcement is not one of them.”
“We’re just going to make sure that our properties, our parking lots, our vacant lots, our city parks can’t be commandeered by the federal government, whether that’s intelligence gathering, surveillance, or any mass immigration operation,” Ortiz added.
Immigrant rights groups applauded the move.
“It’s now more important than ever for our local leadership to be bold, strong and unapologetic in the ways in which they stand up and protect our community as we are in the midst of an attack,” said Lucila Ortiz with Working Partnerships USA.
When asked for reaction to the attempt to restrict operations in the South Bay, ICE released the following statement: “Anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties or assaults law enforcement, including U.S. citizens, will of course face consequences which includes arrest.”