SAN JOSE WILL PROHIBIT federal immigration activity at dozens of city properties and vacant lots.
The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ban U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from using 11 city garages and parking lots, as well as the parking areas of 75 community centers and libraries as staging areas or operational bases.
The city’s policy comes on the heels of Santa Clara County passing a similar policy to block ICE from using county-owned vacant lots, garages and other spaces for immigration enforcement. The city and county’s plan is part of a spreading, national movement to freeze ICE agents out of certain areas after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an Oct. 6 executive order laying out similar rules.
“We are sending a bold and unmistakable message: City property exists to serve our residents, not to facilitate federal actions that undermine community trust or public safety,” District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who led the effort, said at the council meeting. “I do want to acknowledge that this policy has yet to be challenged in the court of law, and there are questions about enforcement. That being said, just as we see the executive branch of our federal government expanding beyond its historical role to target our residents, so should we, in order to defend those we love and call our neighbors.”
Signs stating prohibited use will be posted at all locations, and gates will be installed where appropriate. City employees who become aware of ICE activity will be required to report it to their supervisors.
The exception to the new rule
Though the city owns hundreds of vacant lots and spaces, many of these sites are located along creeks and aren’t accessible for public parking, according to a city memo. San Jose will continue to update its list of prohibited properties.
This policy won’t prohibit properties and parcels that are already in use by federal agencies. A spokesperson for the city manager’s office said there are no known city-owned properties being used for immigration enforcement purposes.
“The city has established safe site protocols in the event that immigration enforcement activities take place at city properties,” spokesperson Carolina Camarena told San José Spotlight. “The next step is to develop and refine additional procedures that will ensure enforcement.”
“We are sending a bold and unmistakable message: City property exists to serve our residents, not to facilitate federal actions that undermine community trust or public safety.”
Councilmember Peter Ortiz
The policy isn’t meant to impede federal officials from carrying out their duties under the law, such as operating Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at San Jose Mineta International Airport for aviation purposes, according to the memo.
“We want all residents to know that they can safely come to their city, to use the services we provide, to work with (the San Jose Police Department) to report crime,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said at the meeting. “Obviously, I have and we all share deep concerns about the way federal immigration enforcement is being carried out in our country right now.”
The fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident and U.S. citizen Renee Good last week by an ICE agent has stoked national unrest. More than 1,000 protests took place across the country over the weekend.
Immigrant groups push stronger protections
Santa Clara County immigration advocates spoke against the violence they said they’ve experienced with ICE agents and called for more state funding for legal protections.
“Our friends and neighbors all over the country and right here in San Jose live in terror, and it’s constant,” Kim Guptill, a volunteer with the Rapid Response Network, which documents and sends alerts of ICE activity in the county, said at the meeting. “I also encourage the mayor and his team to work harder and faster on getting his contacts in philanthropy to donate more to protecting our immigrant siblings, as he promised back on May 19.”
San Jose implemented several policies last year to protect its immigrant communities, including prohibiting law enforcement from masking in the city and investing $1 million to bolster immigrant defense organizations such as Amigos de Guadalupe. San Jose’s population of nearly 1 million residents is made up of 41% immigrants.
Councilmembers have also directed staff to analyze San Jose’s investments in order to divest from corporations with potential ties to ICE. City workers will report back in March.
“We came together as friends and neighbors to address this issue,” District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan said at the meeting. “Because (it affects) not only the Hispanic community, it affects the Asian community immensely as well. When we unite and organize, we can make a difference.”
Contact Joyce Chu at joyce@sanjosespotlight.com or @joyce_speaks on X.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.