Construction on a proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Gilroy has been temporarily paused while federal attorneys prepare their response to a lawsuit challenging the project, according to opponents of the facility.
The pause comes after California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Santa Clara County filed suit seeking to stop the project, arguing it violates state law. A hearing on a request for a preliminary injunction, originally expected later this year, has been moved up to September, said Rebecca Amendáriz, a community organizer with the ICE Out of Gateway Coalition.
While no injunction has been issued, Amendáriz said the parties have agreed to temporarily halt construction until the federal government files its legal response.
“We didn’t get an injunction, but I’ll take it as a temporary win to halt that construction,” she said. “We really do see it as a sign of something good to come.”
The proposed facility at the Gateway Business Park has sparked protests since plans became public earlier this year. Opponents say it would expand immigration enforcement in the region and increase fear in immigrant communities stretching from the Central Coast to the Bay Area.
ICE has previously disputed claims that the project is a detention center, telling the Pajaronian it is intended to serve as office space rather than a long-term detention facility.
Amendáriz, however, said blueprints obtained by opponents indicate the building is designed as a processing center where people arrested by ICE would be temporarily held before being transferred elsewhere.
According to Amendáriz, the plans include space to hold up to 150 people for as long as two days, along with training areas and weapons storage.
“This isn’t some benign administrative office,” she said. “It’s somewhere where people will be held, processed and transferred out.”
She said individuals brought to the facility could later be transferred to detention centers in California’s Central Valley or other ICE facilities if additional detention capacity becomes available.
Amendáriz also said opposition to the project continues to grow, with multiple cities joining an amicus brief supporting the lawsuit and numerous environmental, immigration and social justice organizations backing the effort.
“The community is not happy about this—not from the Central Coast to the Bay Area,” she said. “We’re going to continue to organize. We have a number of protests this weekend, next week and the following week, and there will continue to be because this doesn’t belong here.”
The Pajaronian reached out to ICE for comment on the temporary construction pause and Amendáriz’s characterization of the proposed facility but did not receive a response by press time.
