Attorney General Bonta, County of Santa Clara Secure Early Win in Lawsuit to Block Illegal Construction of ICE Facility Near Gilroy

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the County of Santa Clara late yesterday secured a preliminary injunction blocking the illegal construction of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in an unincorporated area of Santa Clara County near Gilroy, California. In June 2026, Attorney General Bonta and the County of Santa Clara filed a lawsuit challenging the construction of this facility, which the federal government pursued without required environmental review or consultation with state and local governments. ICE subsequently agreed to pause construction until September 9, 2026. Yesterday’s order by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California continues to halt construction and asks the parties to meet and confer and submit a proposed order by September 30, 2026 on the scope of the injunction.

"No one is above the law — not even the federal government," said Attorney General Rob Bonta. "The Trump Administration tried to rush construction of this facility in secret, ignoring environmental safeguards and shutting out the communities that would bear the consequences. This ruling sends a clear message: California will hold the federal government accountable and protect our communities, our environment, and the rule of law.”

“We’re hopeful the court’s ruling sends a clear message that this is the wrong process and the wrong place for this facility,” said County Counsel Tony LoPresti.  “The federal government’s legal violations concealed fundamental flaws with this project — you can’t plop a facility like this onto sensitive land that lacks basic infrastructure to support the detention of individuals.  We’re proud to stand with Attorney General Bonta in fighting this battle, and we’re honored to support an immigrant community that has been under constant assault by an Administration that is all too willing to proceed without regard for the law.”

BACKGROUND 

In January 2025, the federal government leased a 24.5-acre parcel of unincorporated land near Gilroy, California from a private developer for use by ICE as a likely Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) holding facility. From there, the federal government moved to build out the site rapidly and without transparency — bypassing required environmental review and failing to consult with state or local governments at any point. The construction of the facility threatens to cause the release of hazardous materials and disrupt the ecosystem, habitat, and agricultural value of land that the county and the state have protected for exclusively agricultural uses since the 1960s. The project is also likely to have severe impacts on vital infrastructure, overwhelming a septic system designed for much smaller use.  

Attorney General Bonta and the County of Santa Clara filed a lawsuit and a motion for a preliminary injunction in June 2026, arguing that the development of this facility violates the National Environmental Policy Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and California’s Williamson Act. Yesterday’s decision on the motion for a preliminary injunction finds Attorney General Bonta and the County of Santa Clara are likely to succeed in the litigation and halts construction of the facility pending further instruction by the court.