A federal judge has raised serious doubts about a plan to turn a former agricultural research site outside Gilroy, California, into a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office and detention facility. Santa Clara County and the state of California sued to stop it, arguing the site was never built to hold people and may still carry contamination from its past use — aging septic systems and leftover chemical residue, not the infrastructure needed to safely house up to 150 detainees and dozens of staff around the clock.

Federal attorneys have argued the project doesn't need further environmental review, claiming that turning the property into detention space isn't a meaningful change in use. U.S. District Judge Eumi K. Lee didn't sound convinced, pressing government lawyers on the difference between ordinary office space and a facility built to hold people.

"This is the wrong place for this facility... it should certainly not proceed here," said Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti after the September 2026 hearing.

You don't have to take a side in the national immigration debate to see the problem: a site with known safety and infrastructure concerns is the wrong fit for any facility meant to hold people safely — no matter what that facility is for. The judge has paused construction while she weighs a longer block, but the fight isn't over. A final decision isn't expected until after an October hearing.

Sign the petition to demand a full, honest safety and environmental review of the Gilroy site before any detention facility is allowed to open there — before the wrong location becomes a lasting danger.