Politics

San Jose will prohibit federal immigration activity at dozens of city properties and vacant lots.

The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ban U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from using 11 city garages and parking lots, as well as the parking areas of 75 community centers and libraries as staging areas or operational bases.

The city’s policy comes on the heels of Santa Clara County passing a similar policy to block ICE from using county-owned vacant lots, garages and other spaces for immigration enforcement. The city and county’s plan is part of a spreading, national movement to freeze ICE agents out of certain areas after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an Oct. 6 executive order laying out similar rules.

“We are sending a bold and unmistakable message: City property exists to serve our residents, not to facilitate federal actions that undermine community trust or public safety,” District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who led the effort, said at the council meeting. “I do want to acknowledge that this policy has yet to be challenged in the court of law, and there are questions about enforcement. That being said, just as we see the executive branch of our federal government expanding beyond its historical role to target our residents, so should we, in order to defend those we love and call our neighbors.”