Over nearly an hour of sometimes tear-filled remarks, a series of speakers \u2014 made up of community activists and a who\u2019s who of South Bay political leaders \u2014 drew parallels between the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown and historic wrongs perpetrated against Japanese Americans, such as the mass internment policy enacted during World War II.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, unfortunately, it\u2019s too late to just say never again,\u201d Susan Hayase, co-founder of Japantown social justice group San Jose Nikkei Resisters, said during the rally. \u201cThe thing we feared is happening again now.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_6603-1024x768.jpg\")
Grassroots organizers and elected leaders joined together for the hour-long event held in front of the historic Issei Memorial Building in San Jose\u2019s Japantown. Photo by Keith Menconi.<\/p>\n
While striking a note of alarm, Hayase also suggested that people organizing against<\/a> the federal government\u2019s mass deportation efforts<\/a> could draw inspiration from the decades-long struggle waged by Japanese Americans to secure civil rights.<\/p>\n \u201cEven in the concentration camps, our people resisted and protested with labor strikes, draft resistance, hunger strikes and refusal to participate in government loyalty oaths,\u201d Hayase said. \u201cIn that same spirit, we can and should protest, object and resist today\u2019s brutal, unlawful ICE policies.\u201d<\/p>\n In holding Wednesday\u2019s rally, organizers such as Hayase are adding their voices to the chorus of opposition against the planned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility<\/a> at 7240 Holsclaw Road just outside Gilroy. Since news of the project first surfaced in May, immigrants rights groups have held several protests and marches throughout Santa Clara County and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see that our communities will suffer together as they always have,\u201d Rebeca Armendariz, a former Gilroy councilmember who has emerged as a lead organizer in the opposition movement against the planned facility, said at the rally. \u201cBut that\u2019s why together we will gather, we will strategize, we will organize and continue to fight together \u2014 so that we will win back our country.\u201d<\/p>\n The Japantown rally came two days after a coalition of city and county governments \u2014 ranging from the North Bay down to the Central Coast \u2014 submitted an amicus brief that signaled official support for a lawsuit seeking to block the planned ICE facility.<\/p>\n The lawsuit \u2014 brought in June<\/a> by Santa Clara County and California Attorney General Rob Bonta \u2014 alleges the federal government has advanced the project in secrecy, violating federal environmental laws as well as local rules restricting the Holsclaw Road property to agricultural uses<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, federal authorities agreed to pause work<\/a> at the site until court proceedings begin in early September.<\/p>\n Representatives for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have previously denied any plans to build detention facilities on the property and claim the agency seeks only to construct a new office. But that contradicts blueprints<\/a> outlining plans to construct an ICE facility with detention areas large enough to hold 150 people, according to an assessment by county officials.<\/p>\n To date, the Bay Area has not seen the same dramatic immigration enforcement operations that have rocked major cities such as Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles since President Donald Trump began his second term<\/a>. But Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, whose district includes Japantown as well as Gilroy, warned that could change if the Holsclaw Road facility ever becomes operational.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat it\u2019s going to mean is that those masked, armed, dangerous agents can fan out across Northern California and bring their reign of terror to our communities,\u201d Lofgren said. \u201cWe cannot allow that to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_6624-1024x768.jpg\")
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren speaks during Wednesday\u2019s rally. Photo by Keith Menconi.<\/p>\n![\"In-line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/interactive-321838904008.png\")
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