More than 100 people in San Jose’s Japantown gathered to oppose a possible ICE detention facility in Gilroy on Wednesday.
Reverend John Oda pointed to injustices his uncle’s family faced when they were forced to live in an internment camp during World War II.
“He fought and died for this country while his own family, my mother’s entire family, was placed behind barbed wire,” he said.
Now he says he’s speaking out so history does not repeat itself.
“When you see your government begin to sort human beings into categories of who deserves rights and who doesn’t, who deserves due process and who doesn’t, you do not stay quiet,” he said.
This was a message echoed by many during the protest.
“The thing we feared is happening again now. In World War II there were 75 confinement sites. Today there are over 200, and there are reports of horrifying, subhuman conditions,” SJ Nikkei Resisters Co-Founder Susan Hayase said.
After Santa Clara County and the state sued the Trump administration to halt the project, federal officials agreed to pause construction until Sept. 9.
But South Bay Congresswoman Zoe Lofren says the fight is far from over.
“If that detention center is open and there is none right now in Northern California, it’s going to mean masked, armed, dangerous agents can fan out across Northern California and bring their reign of terror to our communities,” Lofren said.
Which is why these activists are mobilizing, vowing to show up, speak out and stand together to protect all immigrants.
NBC Bay Area reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment but hasn’t heard back.