School districts across Santa Clara County are taking a stand against a proposed immigration enforcement facility in South County.
A coalition of education and county leaders gathered Wednesday to denounce the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center being planned in an unincorporated area just outside Gilroy. The group is sending a joint letter — signed by more than 50 trustees across 27 local school districts — to county, state and federal leaders to advocate for keeping the facility out of the county to protect students and their families. Fears of ICE in the county have kept students from attending class.
Maimona Afzal Berta, a trustee on the Santa Clara County Board of Education, said 15 school districts in the county have adopted official resolutions in opposition to the proposed ICE facility, including San Jose Unified School District, East Side Union High School District and Alum Rock Union School District.
“We want our students (and) families to know that their school leaders are actively preparing through meetings, planning, training to ensure our schools remain safe and welcoming spaces,” she said at the news conference. “The proposed ICE detention facility may be located near Gilroy, but the impact is felt across communities. This is about every child’s right to learn safely.”
San José Spotlight’s exclusive reporting earlier this year uncovered plans for the ICE facility, which includes detainee processing areas, as well as interview and holding rooms. The county and California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit to stop the project in June. Work has been temporarily halted at the site, with an initial court hearing set for Sept. 8. Court filings show the facility, described as an ICE office, would generally hold 10 detainees at any given time — though maximum capacity could change after the property’s owner wraps up construction work at the site.
District 1 Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, who represents South County where the ICE facility is planned, said local schools are fighting for the future of their communities and refuse to be silenced by fear. She wants to help students and their parents feel more secure.
“It’s important for us to use our political voices to continue to not only detain the detention facility construction, but to stop it,” Arenas told San José Spotlight. “We’re all working together. Hopefully it transmits a message of hope and support: We are with you. We’re fighting for you.”
While mass immigration enforcement actions like the federal deployments in Los Angeles and Minneapolis, Minnesota haven’t occurred in Santa Clara County, the region is one of the most impacted areas for targeted ICE operations, according to the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network. Since the start of 2025 to June 2026, 232 county residents have been detained.
Tuyen Fiack, board president of the Gilroy Unified School District, said of the county’s 229,000 public school students, 165,000 are from mixed immigration households. That’s 165,000 students who may experience the uncertainty and fear surrounding immigration enforcement, she said.
“When parents are afraid to attend a school meeting, participate in conferences, access services or engage with their child’s school, that affects the entire educational community,” she said at the news conference. “When children begin to associate a community where they live with fear rather than safety, we have an obligation to pay attention.”
Parent Patricia Lopez’s children attend school in East San Jose, but the family lives in Gilroy near the location of the proposed ICE facility. She said it’s devastating to think about neighbors, friends and family living in fear.
“Gilroy in so many ways has been a town shaped by immigrants and farmworkers, who do the back-breaking work in extreme conditions just to keep food on our tables,” Lopez told San José Spotlight. “I can’t even begin to imagine how it may feel driving out of my home and seeing ICE vehicles in my community. I can’t imagine the fear and uncertainty for so many families. It’s just sad and heartbreaking.”
Fiack said school boards across Santa Clara County recognize that while an ICE facility might physically be located in one community, its impact would reach far beyond one city or school district.
“Our communities are interconnected and so are our responsibilities to our young people,” she said. “Our students come first, our families belong here. Regardless of their immigration status, every child deserves to walk into their classroom focused on learning and dreaming about their future, not fearing for their family.”
Contact Lorraine Gabbert at [email protected].
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