"Labor unions, immigrant rights groups, nurses, students, San Jose elders and faith representatives led a resounding echoing drumbeat that our community would not tolerate the infamous "ICE surge" we saw invade Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. It seems undeniable that the showing of an organized, button-upped top to bottom community, influenced the calculus of the federal administration to not invade our county with the brutal, terrorizing and intentionally public raids ICE is known for."
"When we at Silicon Valley De-Bug first heard of this, we immediately interpreted the action as a violation of a local policy we and others helped create in 2011. Back then, ICE was conscripting local jails to their mass deportation mission by demanding local facilities hold those they wanted to pick up and/or notify ICE when they were released. In response, Santa Clara County created the Detainer Policy 3.54 - which stated absent a judicial warrant, "ICE agents shall not be given access to individuals or be allowed to use County facilities for investigative interviews"
A wide cross-section of Santa Clara County mobilized ahead of the Super Bowl to oppose a potential ICE surge, asserting that ICE was not welcome. Organized demonstrations involved politicians, labor unions, students, nurses, elders, faith leaders and immigrant-rights groups. Despite that mobilization and apparent federal restraint from large public raids, routine ICE operations persisted within the county. From July 2025 to January 2026, 44 people were taken from the county jail by ICE. Local Detainer Policy 3.54, created in 2011, bars ICE access to individuals or county facilities absent a judicial warrant, yet county leadership has not challenged ongoing ICE actions.
Read at San Jose Spotlight
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