Silicon Valley lawmaker’s playbook aims to block ICE facilities

South Bay and Peninsula leaders are seeking to sharpen their legal defenses against new federal immigration facilities by strengthening local zoning rules.

Amid a nationwide multibillion dollar buildout of immigration detention centers, Silicon Valley Congressmember Sam Liccardo unveiled a policy “toolkit” Wednesday developed by his office to aid local governments hoping to forestall such facilities. Liccardo contends states and local governments have had success leveraging land use regulations by governing things like fire safety, the environment, density restrictions and infrastructure capacity.

Under a model ordinance included in the document, local jurisdictions would enact a temporary moratoria on approvals for private detention facilities. In turn, that would buy time to draw up new land use rules, such as health and safety code requirements, that might deter the federal government from pursuing any new detention center projects.

Already, leaders in San Jose and San Mateo County have expressed interest in adopting the model ordinance locally.

Liccardo said the policy push came as a direct response to the revelations about a planned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility taking shape on a 25-acre plot of land east of Gilroy. Santa Clara County joined with California Attorney General Rob Bonta in June to file a lawsuit seeking to block the project, which planning documents suggest will lead to a facility with detention areas large enough to house 150 people.

“We certainly applaud (the state and county) and their effort, but we know that is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the Bay Area to win,” Liccardo said during a press conference in front of San Jose City Hall. “We win when we’re all working together.”

The local leaders and community organizers who turned out for the event said they are not aware of any other attempts by the federal government to build immigration facilities in Santa Clara County. However, they fear that if the federal government ever does succeed in expanding detention capacity in the region, stepped up immigration enforcement, including a wave of deportations, would soon follow.

Advocates in Santa Clara County have staged a series of demonstrations over the past three months aimed at stiffening local opposition to the planned ICE facility located on unincorporated county land at 7240 Holsclaw Road. Now, many are applauding Liccardo’s initiative.

“We are extremely encouraged. All of us have led this effort to get ICE out of Gilroy. We know who will be in those detention centers if it opens,” Maritza Maldonado, Executive Director at Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment, told San José Spotlight. “The fear remains every single day, and yet what we know is that we have a very resilient community.”

Past attempts to outright ban immigration detention centers — such as a statewide measure signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019 — have not held up in court.  Whereas Pennsylvania used environmental permitting authority to stall two ICE warehouse conversions in Berks and Schuylkill counties, according to legal analysis laid out in the toolkit.

“There are a host of conditions that local communities can apply to a conditional use permit that will substantially impact the ability of ICE to be able to site these facilities,” Liccardo said.

San Jose is poised to become the first city to vote on such an ordinance. A proposal — signed by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan as well as councilmembers Pamela Campos, Peter Ortiz, Bien Doan and Domingo Candelas — is now set to go before the Rules and Open Government Committee on Aug. 12.

Mahan said he hopes other local jurisdictions will follow San Jose’s lead.

“Together, we’re committed to keeping our community safe, keeping our families together, and ensuring our region reflects the values that have always defined it — welcoming people from every walk of life and building a better future together,” Mahan said.

Liccardo said his office is also in touch with representatives from Alameda County, where immigrant advocates have been sounding the alarm over concerns that a shuttered women’s prison in Dublin could be converted into an ICE detention center.

Santa Clara County District 2 Supervisor Betty Duong said she was proud to stand alongside her local and regional partners.

“Every jurisdiction should be empowered to use the strongest protections available to safeguard our residents, our values, and our future and that is what this is today,” she said.

Contact Keith Menconi at [email protected] or @KeithMenconi on X.