California is suing the Trump administration over a planned ICE detention center near Gilroy
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Santa Clara County officials announced a new lawsuit against the Trump administration aimed at blocking a planned immigration facility near Gilroy.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in US District Court in San José, says the leased land is designated for agricultural use only and that the federal government violated laws that require state-by-state notification, and procedural steps required before starting construction.
The agency told San José Spotlight that the project is an ICE office and denied it would be a detention center. But state and local officials believe the facility will be used for the temporary detention of up to 150 people at a time.
“The administration is trying to enter a new institution that the public does not want, violating the rules, hiding their plans in secrecy and ignoring the calls from the public to stop,” said Bonta during a press conference in San José, adding that it marks the 71st case filed by his office against the Trump administration.
The Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit also states that the property is in an area known to support many endangered and threatened species and that the area would be difficult to dispose of waste and drinking water infrastructure.
Santa Clara County officials said they were not notified last year when the federal government, intending to build a facility for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, leased about 25 acres of unincorporated land outside Gilroy. The parcel includes three buildings, greenhouses and a large agricultural field, according to the lawsuit.
Community members reported to the district about the upcoming facility earlier this year and opposed the plans. Construction began early last month, according to the lawsuit.
The parcel of land sits three miles southeast of Gilroy Premium Outlets, at 7240 Holsclaw Road, the organization’s procurement records show. The Department of Homeland Security has awarded the 20-year, $26.5-million contract to a subsidiary of Beverly Hills-based Elmwood Capital Group, a real estate investment firm.
ICE also has a processing facility in nearby Morgan Hill.
According to the lawsuit, agricultural research companies that lived in the area generated hazardous waste that was not disposed of properly.
“The federal government’s apparent failure to address — much less mitigate — these hazards endangers site construction workers, inmates and on-site workers, as well as the surrounding environment,” the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, the federal government’s only official communication with the county about the project was a one-page letter dated June 21, 2023, and sent by a representative of Elmwood Capital. The letter said the federal government plans “office and workplace” there and should be exempt from zoning and planning review.
“Part of the problem here is that they’re trying to move forward with this project as transparently as possible, and hopefully no one knows, no one gets the information,” said Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti. “So, part of what our offense is going to do is force that into the open.”
ICE detention facilities have been the subject of numerous lawsuits since the Trump administration began over alleged overcrowding, poor conditions and detentions that lasted for days and weeks.
Bonta and LoPresti said the construction of the ICE center in Gilroy shows the federal government’s desire to increase law enforcement in the area.
Advocates and local leaders have expressed similar concerns in Dublin, another Bay Area city where federal officials are working to transfer ownership of a former prison. Congressional Democrats sent a letter earlier this month arguing that it could be reopened as an immigration detention center.
