Attorney General Bonta, County of Santa Clara Sue to Block Illegal Development of ICE Facility Near Gilroy

SAN JOSÉ — California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti today filed a lawsuit seeking to block the illegal development of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in unincorporated Santa Clara County near Gilroy, California. In January 2025, a private developer leased the property to the federal government for use by ICE — likely as an Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) office. ERO offices, which are only designed for administrative use and short-term detainment, have been the subject of numerous lawsuits during the Trump Administration, and investigative reports have revealed frequent overcrowding, long-term confinement, and inhumane conditions. In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Attorney General Bonta and County Counsel LoPresti ask the court to permanently enjoin construction of this facility, claiming that it violates the National Environmental Policy Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and California’s Williamson Act.

“President Trump’s mass detention and deportation campaign has led to cruel, inhumane, and unacceptable conditions at immigration holding and detention facilities across California. But instead of working to improve conditions at these facilities — instead of enforcing ICE’s own detention standards — the Trump Administration is trying to jam through a new facility on a community that doesn’t want it,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “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. But one thing is clear: ICE’s plans to construct a facility near Gilroy violates multiple federal laws. We’re suing to stop this project and protect the interests of California communities.” 

“Since President Trump took office, the County of Santa Clara has made clear that we won’t tolerate a federal government that abuses the law and jeopardizes the rights and well-being of our immigrant communities,” said County Counsel Tony LoPresti.  “We’re proud to stand alongside Attorney General Bonta in opposing this reckless attempt to build an ICE facility on sensitive and protected land without regard to its impacts on the environment, the community, and, most critically, the humans who would be detained there.”

At the direction of President Trump, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its subordinate office, ICE, have in recent months attempted to reshape the immigration enforcement process into, in their own words, “[Amazon] Prime, but with human beings.” Part and parcel to this scheme has been DHS’s purchase or lease of facilities — often unsuitable for human habitation — and their rushed conversion for immigration detention and processing purposes.  

Since leasing the property near Gilroy, the federal government has proceeded with a plan to quickly and surreptitiously develop a facility. In doing so, the federal government has ignored important environmental concerns and federal laws. The construction of the facility threatens to permanently destroy the ecosystem, habitat, and agricultural value of land that the County, and the State have protected for exclusive agricultural use since at least the 1960s. The project could also have severe impacts on vital infrastructure, straining waste and drinking water infrastructure and leading to the deterioration of critical roadways. 

In the lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta and County Counsel LoPresti make clear that the development of an ICE facility on this land is illegal because it violates: 

• National Environmental Policy Act: The federal government’s decision to enter a lease agreement and begin construction for an ICE facility at the property is a major federal action with likely significant impacts to the human environment. The federal government was required to produce either an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement before entering the lease and beginning construction, which it failed to do.
• Immigration and Nationality Act: The property is not an appropriate place of detention, because it is located in an area known to support several endangered and threatened species, exists in a zone exclusively for agricultural use, and is subject to a Williamson Act contract with the County that allows only agricultural use in exchange for tax benefits.
• Intergovernmental Cooperation Act: The federal government did not sufficiently attempt to consult with the County or the State to solicit their views about the project, and the federal government’s obscurement of its plans to develop and operate an ICE facility at the property prevented the County and the State from providing input to the federal government, in violation of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act’s consultation mandate.
• Administrative Procedure Act: The federal government’s construction of the project violates the above laws and should therefore be set aside under the Administrative Procedure Act. 
• Williamson Act: The property owner and federal government must comply with a Williamson Act contract that applies to the land and which restricts the land exclusively to agricultural and agricultural-compatible uses in exchange for significant property tax benefits. The property owner completed none of the procedural steps required to relieve itself of its Williamson Act contract obligations prior to proceeding with this impermissible use.  

Attorney General Bonta is committed to holding ICE accountable and standing up for California’s immigrant communities. Attorney General Bonta previously led amicus briefs in supporting Minnesota’s lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s extraordinary campaign of lawlessness during its deployment of ICE, in opposing unlawful immigration stops in the Central Valley, and to stop ICE and Customs and Border Protection from engaging in unlawful practices in Los Angeles. 

Last month, Attorney General Bonta released the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) fifth report on cruel, inhumane, and unacceptable conditions at immigration detention facilities operating in California. He also filed an amicus brief opposing the conditions of confinement at Adelanto ICE Processing Center and sent a letter to DHS shining a light on dangerous conditions at the recently reopened California City Detention Facility.

The County of Santa Clara is a national leader among local governments in establishing local policies and taking groundbreaking legal action to protect immigrant communities. The County has held firm to its longstanding pro-immigrant policies through both Trump Administrations, including filing multiple lawsuits to protect those policies. Among other examples, the County, in partnership with San Francisco, led a coalition of local governments in both 2017 and 2025 to successfully challenge President Trump’s repeated attempts to defund “sanctuary jurisdictions” — cities and counties that prohibit using local resources to assist in federal immigration enforcement efforts. The County has also filed several successful lawsuits enjoining the federal administration from conditioning grant funds on local cooperation with immigration enforcement. The County currently has an active docket of 11 cases against the Trump Administration, including this latest filing.