Demonstrators gather in San Jose to protest planned Gilroy ICE facility

About 100 demonstrators gathered Saturday at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San Jose to protest plans for an ICE detention center on unincorporated land in Gilroy. The protest, organized by groups including San Jose Against War and the Democratic Socialists of America, comes after local leaders vowed to fight the facility, citing violations of county zoning laws. Demonstrators expressed fear that the facility would lead to increased immigration enforcement in the Bay Area, which has so far avoided large-scale federal raids seen in other major cities.

Getting your Trinity Audio //trinityaudio.ai player ready...As the federal government’s immigration crackdown moves closer to the Bay Area, about 100 people gathered Saturday afternoon at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San Jose to protest plans to build a detention center in Gilroy. In May, reports revealed plans for an ICE facility on unincorporated land in southern Santa Clara County https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/05/14/ice-detention-facility-gilroy-santa-clara-county/ . Local leaders vowed to push back against the construction of the facility, claiming it violates county zoning laws, which ban building such installations on that land. At around 3 p.m., demonstrators carrying signs that read “Melt ICE,” “Immigrants Make America Great,” and “408 hates ICE. Stay out of our community” filled the plaza, as passing motorists honked their horns in a show of solidarity with the protest. They expressed concern over what the facility signals, especially for the Bay Area’s large immigrant population. While some immigration-related arrests have occurred in the region, it has so far avoided the large-scale federal “surges” that have affected other major metropolitan areas like Minneapolis and Los Angeles. The protest comes days after Gilroy residents https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/05/28/ice-center-gilroy-community-reaction/ met with local leaders to express fear over the planned facility. In that forum, many cited reports of violent immigration arrests and killings, fearing similar scenarios might play out here. While local leaders acknowledged limited power to resist federal government plans, they promised to fight back and support the local immigrant population. Saturday’s protest listed organizers groups such as San Jose Against War, the Democratic Socialists of America, Community Service Organization San Jose, and the Community Agency for Resources, Advocacy & Services. Rosa Barradas, a 24-year-old Gilroy educator, spoke with this news organization before the group began to march. She said her role as a teacher for students of color, many of whom are Latino, combined with her own experience as a first-generation student, drives her sense of duty to protest the administration’s actions against immigrants. “If we don’t speak out, we’re just working with the system,” Barradas said. “Immigrants are not criminals.” She said she was heartbroken when she heard about plans to build an ICE detention center in Gilroy and her students are worried about what it would mean for themselves and their families. “We come here because we want a better life,” Barradas said. Raymond Goins, a 45-year-old San Jose resident, said he was attending the protest Saturday to speak out against any expansion of federal immigration enforcement in the Bay Area. “If we allow the detention center to be built in Gilroy, it sets up the precedent for federal agents to raid us and deport our residents that have paid their taxes and contributed to our society,” he said. Goins said the turnout Saturday reflected a sense of unity and hoped the protest would serve as a path forward for change and empowering communities of color, especially. “It’s a unified echo that the community stands with our immigrant community,” he said. “It’s a portrait of humanity of what we want our America to look like, not what our President wants America to look like.”