California sues over construction of alleged ICE facility

By Madeline Shannon
The Center Square

California is suing U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies to stop construction of what plaintiffs say is an ICE holding facility near an agricultural city.

Blueprints show plans for some kind of federal facility, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it isn’t building a new detention center.

Santa Clara County, the rural Central California county that would be home to the alleged administrative and short-term detainment facility, joined California Attorney General Rob Bonta in the lawsuit, which also names DHS, the U.S. General Services Administration, three federal officials and the Beverly Hills-based company ECG 6 LLC as defendants. GSA is the agency that builds federal facilities.

“The action taking place in [the] county is unlawful, and spreads fear throughout our county,” Otto Lee, the chair of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, told The Center Square.

“This project was being developed secretly, and violates the National Environmental Policy Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and California’s Williamson Act, to name a few,” Lee said.

In the lawsuit, the county and the California Department of Justice challenged the development of what appears to be a facility for holding illegal immigrants in the 7200 block of Holsclaw Road in unincorporated Santa Clara County. According to the complaint, the federal agencies involved with the development violated numerous laws, including California’s Williamson Act, which has limited the site on Holsclaw Road to strictly agricultural uses since 1967.

The suspected holding facility is expected to be around 18,700 square feet, according to the lawsuit, and will hold up to 150 detainees. The complaint also alleges that the facility site is in an area that is home to endangered species and has limited and inadequate waste disposal capabilities. There is also hazardous waste present on site, notably a toxic fungicide called thiram, ethidium bromide, calcium hypochlorite and acid-based chemical wash water, the complaint states.

Construction started on May 4, the complaint further alleges. The lawsuit contends federal officials with knowledge of the project concealed its true nature.

“We have no new detention centers planned at this location,” a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told The Center Square via email on Thursday. The department declined to identify the spokesperson by name.

“Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe,” said the DHS spokesperson. “It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and is actively working to expand detention space.”

Public records from the General Services Administration show that a facility is indeed planned at the site, with blueprints showing that there are parts of building construction with labels like “man trap” and “ammunition/weapons suite.” There are also rooms in the blueprints labeled “visitor room” and “interview room.”

Big type on the blueprints say “Construction Documents. GSA. General Services Administration. Gilroy, California.”

“What I understand this would be is a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center outside of Gilroy,” said Greg Bozzo, mayor of Gilroy.

“I understand it to be a facility that, in my opinion, and in the opinion of our city council, is located in the wrong place,” Bozzo told The Center Square on Thursday. “The majority of our community is in alignment with our city council, which voted unanimously to pass a resolution opposing this facility in this location.”

Bozzo said Gilroy’s residents, many of whom are immigrants, have shared concerns with him about construction moving ahead on this facility.

“Gilroy is a community that is known for caring for one another,” Bozzo said. “We are a strong-knit community where people know each other, and we are concerned for everyone for the type of anxiety that this is bringing to our community.”

Santa Clara County officials have jurisdiction over the facility because it is being built on county land and in an unincorporated area. They said they share the same concerns as Gilroy officials. The federal government is leasing the land from the county.

“Our office has a long history of litigation around immigrant rights issues,” Tony Lopresti, county counsel for Santa Clara County, told The Center Square. “Our county has pretty much the largest ratio of foreign-born residents in the nation at 42%. Our board is a board that very much understands that immigrant community is at the core of our county’s identity.”

The Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office previously sued the Trump administration for its actions against immigrant communities, which affects many residents, Lopresti said. He and other county officials also said there was no communication or outreach from the federal government to the county in the plans to build a potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Gilroy.

“At the very least, we would expect they would comply with the applicable laws,” Lopresti said. “It requires they seek out and consider the perspectives of local and state government, that they evaluate alternative locations, whether they could use existing locations.

“They did none of that,” Lopresti said. “They just proceeded under full secrecy to ram through a project.”

The California Department of Justice, which is overseen by Bonta, and ICE did not respond to The Center Square’s requests for comment.

The GSA responded via email on Thursday afternoon that it does not comment on active litigation.

Lawyers from the San Francisco-based law firm Shute, Mihaley and Weinberger, a law firm representing the plaintiffs in the case, did not respond to The Center Square.