San José Immigrant Advocates Protest Sweeping ICE Arrests

A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups protested Friday outside of U.S. immigration offices in South San José, demanding an end to what they called a “harsh escalation” of arrests by the Trump administration.

The action came in response to what appeared to be a wave of coordinated arrests in recent weeks carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices, ICE offices and immigration courts in San Francisco, San José and across the nation.

“These raids are not about justice or security, they are about terrorizing our communities and enforcing an unjust immigration system,” Lyla Salinas, an organizer with the Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, said Friday during the protest outside a USCIS office on Blossom Hill Road.

“We refuse to stay silent,” Salinas said. “Across the country, we’re seeing people rise up to fight back against these cruel arrests everywhere they are happening.”

Organizers claimed some of the arrests in recent days and weeks took place when undocumented immigrants were called into local offices for what is known as a “check-in” appointment under the federal “Intensive Supervision Appearance Program.”

The program keeps track of immigrants at various stages of the immigration process and releases individuals back into their communities while their court hearings proceed.

Critics of ICE’s operations say that targeting immigrants who are cooperating with authorities is deceptive. At Friday’s protest, District 5 City Councilmember Peter Ortiz characterized the federal administration’s actions toward immigrants as “domestic terrorism.”

“They are targeting residents, law-abiding residents, for nothing more than simply not having papers, for not having citizenship. That’s disgusting. That’s things that we see in fascist governments, and it’s happening here in our very own backyard,” Ortiz said.

On Friday, Ortiz also issued a memo asking his city council colleagues to approve allocating an additional $1 million in the upcoming city budget toward emergency support for immigrants and undocumented residents, in addition to the $500,000 Mayor Matt Mahan allocated in a draft budget.

“It’s already apparent from these last two weeks that ICE activity has been increasing. We’ve seen more than ten people detained last week; we’re seeing more detained this week. Our community can’t wait. Our gente can’t wait,” Ortiz said.

“They are under attack, and it’s the city’s job to make sure that the people of the city of San José are safe, regardless of their citizenship.”

In an emailed statement, an ICE spokesperson appeared to push back on the characterization of the arrests by advocates, but declined to offer specifics about the people arrested.

“Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order. If you are in the country illegally and a judge has ordered you to be removed, that is precisely what will happen,” the statement said.

The supervision program “exists to ensure compliance with release conditions. All illegal aliens are afforded due process,” the statement said.

District 2 City Councilmember Pamela Campos, who represents the area where the protest took place, said the city of San José is beautiful because it was built on the strength of a diverse immigrant population.

“And so every single day that we have a federal government, a federal administration that tries to challenge that, that tries to threaten our immigrant community, we are going to stand up and fight back,” Campos said during the protest.

Dozens of volunteers and activists held signs outside the USCIS office that read “No Deportations!” and “ICE out of San José.” They chanted slogans like “Stand up, fight back,” and “Si, se puede.”

The protesters then marched from the USCIS office down Blossom Hill Road to continue their action outside a local ICE office, with cars honking all along their route.

The group entered the office building that houses an ICE office, which was closed, and then exited.

They then rallied outside of Chavez Supermarket on Blossom Hill Road, where ICE agents were reported to have been conducting arrests earlier in the week in unmarked vans and cars.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong, who represents District 2 — the highest concentration of immigrants in the county — thanked the protesters for speaking up for those who can’t speak for themselves.

“It’s dangerous right now in this current political climate, against the backdrop of federal legislation which is unduly burdening immigrants and targeting immigrant communities,” Duong told KQED. “These are folks who say, ‘We will not back down. We will protect our neighbors and our friends and our community members.’”

Uriel Magdaleno, an organizer with the Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, said part of the goal of protests like these is to encourage local residents and activists to “out-organize ICE” through efforts like barrio walks.

“What we seek to do is go door to door, letting people know of their rights, passing out ‘Know Your Rights’ literature, engaging with the community,” Magdaleno said.

“Letting the community know how they can stand up against ICE — how the community can intimidate ICE instead of ICE intimidating us.”