SAN FRANCISCO—U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) isn’t planning to establish detention centers at its planned facility near Gilroy, California.
In an email to The Epoch Times on June 15, regarding a lawsuit that had been filed against the agency over the planned facility, an ICE spokesperson said, “We have no new detention centers planned at this location.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the County of Santa Clara filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on June 10, seeking to block the construction of the ICE facility at 7240 Holsclaw Road, an approximately 25-acre property in an unincorporated area outside Gilroy.
The facility will most likely serve as an Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) office, which is only designed for administrative use and short-term detainment, according to a statement from Bonta’s office.
The statement says ERO offices have been found to have “frequent overcrowding, long-term confinement, and inhumane conditions.”
“Under this Administration, we’ve seen ICE offices have become mini-detention centers, despite being unequipped for long-term holding. That’s unacceptable. So is the secrecy surrounding the details of this project,” Bonta said in the statement, which accused the planned facility of violating multiple federal laws.
Federal government procurement records show that the General Services Administration, which handles contracts for federal agencies, was searching for a property in Santa Clara County in December 2020 to build a detention center of 4,000 square feet along with office space and a sally port large enough to accommodate a passenger bus. A contract to rent the Holsclaw Road location was awarded in January 2025 for this purpose.
Demolition and construction work began around May 4, 2026, according to the lawsuit.
“Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe. 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,” the ICE spokesperson stated in the email.
The spokesperson also described some of the criminals ICE has arrested in California, including gang-involved robber Benjamin Zaragoza-Garcia, 14-time convicted criminal Ana Lizbeth Lopez-De Reyes, child sex offender Luis Robles-Minjares, and convicted felon Phonesack Xaiyavong.
The lawsuit sought preliminary and permanent injunctions to stop the development of the ICE facility, accusing it of violating four federal laws and one California state law.
“The project poses a threat to a long list of protected local species, which may be harmed by groundwater contamination, increased noise, increased traffic, degradation of freshwater, exposure or release of hazardous materials, and light pollution,” the complaint states.
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren of California’s 18th District, which includes Gilroy, attempted to block construction of the facility by introducing an amendment to an ICE funding bill. However, the bill passed without the amendment.
“The detention centers ICE is already operating have poor conditions, and it’s part of why deaths in ICE custody have been skyrocketing,” Lofgren said in a June 11 statement. “As for my role in Congress, I’m doing all that I can to block funding for new detention facilities.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, a nonprofit civil rights organization, wrote in a statement, “Adding detention beds in Northern California will lead to more ICE arrests, human rights abuses, deportations, and deaths.”
Palo Alto City Council voted on June 15 to authorize the City Attorney’s Office to join an amicus brief in support of the county and state’s lawsuit, according to City Attorney Christopher Jensen.
This was “consistent with the City’s policy to support measures that protect immigrants from unlawful or inhumane deportation efforts,” Jensen wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.
