{"id":5916,"date":"2026-07-31T12:07:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5916"},"modified":"2026-07-31T12:07:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:07:35","slug":"how-one-of-the-bay-areas-most-heavily-latino-cities-is-fighting-back-against-an-ice-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5916","title":{"rendered":"How one of the Bay Area’s most heavily Latino cities is fighting back against an ICE facility"},"content":{"rendered":"

During a late afternoon on Gilroy\u2019s small downtown strip, the sounds of m\u00fasica urbana and rap blast out of a barbershop academy where young men chat in English and Spanish as they close up shop after a long day of giving customers taper fades. Patrons begin wandering into craft breweries, passing by signs advertising Envios de Dinero \u2014 remittances to send back to Mexico and Latin America. Nearby, the scents of carne asada and carnitas waft out of taquerias, inviting those nearby to stop in for a meal.<\/p>

Read more Horoscopes July 31, 2026: Rico Rodriguez, put more energy into your health<\/a><\/p>\n

For years, Gilroy has been one of the most heavily Latino cities in the entire Bay Area, with three in five of its residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino. The legacy of Mexican American heritage follows waves of immigrants from Europe and Asia that helped shape and define the city and form the close knit community on the southern edge of the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

But now, some fear that legacy may be under threat. Ever since work began on an ICE facility on the outskirts of Gilroy earlier this year, fear has rippled\u00a0through much of the community. And while the development is on pause, much of the town is caught between a promise to fight back and the looming threat of immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cGilroy \u2026 we\u2019re a little microcosm of something much bigger. (We have) prospered because the people who come here want a better life, they want to work,\u201d said Susan Voss, museum manager for the Gilroy Museum. \u201cThere\u2019s a real immigrant dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilroy is majority Latino and about half Mexican-American, according to the most recent census. Given the makeup of the community, the threat of the ICE facility hits especially close to home for many who live and work in Gilroy. While immigration enforcement targets those who are in the country illegally, some who are in the country legally, including U.S. citizens, have been caught up in immigration enforcement and many throughout the Bay Area have undocumented family members and loved ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s crazy with the Latino community out here,\u201d said Devin Navarro of the ICE facility, raising his voice over the idle chatter and buzzing of clippers that mark the Gilroy barbershop where he works. \u201cWe\u2019re blessed to have the traditional culture that we have. Gilroy is built off the Latino community, whether they have their documentation or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed ICE facility, first revealed by news reports based on federal records, prompted swift backlash by the community, with Santa Clara County and California joining together in a lawsuit to halt the facility. Reporting by this news organization showed that, as of May, work was already underway on a planned ICE facility on Santa Clara County land just east of Highway 101 and north of Highway 152. Currently, the federal government has halted construction until Sept. 9 as part of a voluntary deal with the state and county.<\/p>\n

Blueprints of the proposed facility show a building with multiple holding rooms, an armory and offices, rather than a large-scale detention center. \u201cThe construction in Gilroy is not for a detention center,\u201d said ICE spokesperson Jason Sweeney in a statement to The Sacramento Bee. \u201cIt is for an ICE office that will support local operations and the enforcement of federal immigration laws.\u201d<\/p>

\n<\/div>\n

The pause has heartened some, but most Gilroyans interviewed want to ensure a wholesale stop, with several citing the violent, military-style operations of ICE agents that have resulted in the high-profile killings of multiple people around the country. Others noted the abuses of those detained in inhumane conditions or cited the Supreme Court decision last year which allowed ICE officers to use racial profiling, such as appearance, languages spoken and accents in deciding who to detain and interrogate someone.<\/p>\n

In some families, that\u2019s left them fearful to even go outside, and some are even considering\u00a0leaving Gilroy or returning to Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t free to go out with or without documents,\u201d said Luisa, a community member who declined to give her last name for fear of immigration enforcement, in Spanish, reflecting a commonly voiced concern that Latinos could face discrimination or enforcement activity regardless of their legal status. \u201cIt\u2019s worrying for our community and people who look like us.\u201d<\/p>\n

That fear could have ripple effects in a community that has fought to bring more vibrancy and business to a city with its own set of struggles \u2014 from high homelessness to limited access to crucial services. Unencumbered immigration enforcement and the fear it brings could kneecap those efforts, with estimating that the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement agenda could cause the Bay Area as a whole to lose $67 billion in economic activity.<\/p>

\n<\/div>\n

Latin Americans are far from the first immigrants to define Gilroy \u2014 or the first to face a threat to their community.<\/p>

Read more Opinion: When life gets hard, animals still depend on us<\/a><\/p>\n

Like much of the valley, Gilroy stands on land that was first occupied by the native Amah Mutsun, then taken over by Spanish colonists and later became Mexico. Gilroy\u2019s multi-ethnic roots, however, begin at its inception, when Scotsman John Gilroy became the first English-speaking settler of California, married Maria Clara Ortega \u2013 the daughter of a Spanish rancher, and then became a Mexican citizen. The land he owned would later become the home of the namesake town.<\/p>\n

Later on, the Gold Rush and its aftermath attracted settlers from across the country and around the world to California and later, Gilroy, including Chinese immigrants who grew tobacco and rolled and sold cigars, even establishing a small Chinatown in what is now downtown Gilroy. In the late 1800s however, the Chinese Exclusion Act stifled the thriving community, and other immigrant communities began to make their mark on Gilroy. Italian immigrants became a crucial labor force in the region\u2019s burgeoning fruit industry, joined by immigrants from Japan, Switzerland and elsewhere. Throughout, some descendants of Gilroy and the Mexican families who settled in the area remained, and over time, Mexican immigrant laborers began to make up more and more of the community, with many working on farms and becoming a core part of the fabric of the city.<\/p>\n

With the city\u2019s past and present immigrant roots in mind, Gilroyans are finding ways to push back against the ICE facility and the fear it has brought. Rebeca Armendariz, a former councilmember and longtime community activist, heads ICE Out of Gilroy, a coalition which has been pushing public leaders to take a stand against the proposed facility. The group has hosted and co-organized over eight protests, marches, rallies and vigils \u2014 some attended by hundreds.<\/p>\n

While the proposed facility is outside of city borders, limiting the city\u2019s ability to intervene, many in the protests have asked the city to join an amicus brief, a legal document to add evidence to the lawsuit against the facility. City leaders have not expressed plans to join the legal filing, arguing that signing on would place a workload on city staff and pull them away from the city\u2019s other needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re putting 60% of the population in the crosshairs,\u201d said Armendariz of the ICE facility and the refusal to join the legal document. \u201cThis community for generations has given us this beautiful culture, this beautiful agriculture and we don\u2019t take a stand for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, on June 1, city leaders\u00a0unanimously adopted a resolution opposing the construction of a detention center outside of Gilroy. Mayor Greg Bozzo has led several events with the city\u2019s police chief at predominantly Spanish-speaking churches and community groups affirming that Gilroy city officials and law enforcement would not collaborate with immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n