Community advocates raised concerns about ICE activity at a South Bay jail.
Cellphone video obtained by NBC Bay Area shows armed federal immigration agents both inside and outside the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas.
Advocates with Silicon Valley De-Bug and the Santa Clara County Rapid Response Network were at the facility, raising questions about why agents were there and whether their activity conflicts with the county’s sanctuary policy.
“It is deeply concerning. This feels like a recent escalation, and we don’t know if it’s the beginning of a larger operation or what’s motivating it,” Raj Jayadev with Silicon Valley De-Bug said. “They were here yesterday so we were ready, Rapid Response Network was out here as well.”
Raj Jayadev says both Silicon Valley De-Bug and the Rapid Response Network are concerned that the agents are waiting to pick up people, just as they’re being released.
“We had seen people and known people that were being released from jail and they never made it home because ICE was waiting for them to pick them up,” Jayadev said.
The sheriff’s office says the agents did not make any arrests or detainments Thursday and remained in areas open to the public.
Advocates say they believe ICE’s presence conflicts with the county’s civil immigration policy, which generally prohibits county staff from helping with federal civil immigration enforcement, including sharing release dates.
“I think our concerns are to make sure the sheriffs in the county are not participating in anything that ICE wants to do,” Narely Campos with Silicon Valley De-Bug said.
It’s worth noting that no sanctuary policy can prohibit the agents from waiting inside or outside public areas of the jail.
In a statement, the sheriff’s office reiterated that it does not coordinate with ICE, notify the agency of release dates or have advance knowledge of its operations.
The office says ICE has periodically visited the jail’s lobby for more than a year and has taken 60 people into custody who were scheduled for release.
The sheriff’s office says there were no incidents reported and jail operations continued as normal.
