HomeMy WebLinkAbout06 01 2026 - Item 7.9 - Nasreen Mahmud1
Stefan Mercer
From:Nasreen <nasreenm@hushmail.com>
Sent:Saturday, May 30, 2026 8:14 PM
To:Public Comments
Subject:EXTERNAL - Agenda Item 7.9 - Support
Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Councilmembers,
I am a resident of Santa Cruz county and I support the proposed resolution to oppose the possible ICE
detention facility in Gilroy. I also urge you to agendize a “No staging” policy for June 15 to provide concrete
protections for the community by prohibiting the use of city property for civil immigration enforcement.
Part of why the Bay has not seen the same level of ICE terror as Los Angeles, Central Valley or Minneapolis is
because we don’t have a detention center nearby for ICE to cage our loved ones in. Thanks to community
organizing, there are currently no immigration detention centers north of Bakersfield in California. Let’s keep it
that way because if ICE succeeds, FCI Dublin could become the first detention center in the Bay Area, with a
Gilroy detention facility to support these harmful operations. If ICE builds it, ICE will fill it, and the Bay will see
increased enforcement activity and higher rates of family separations.
With the threats of proposed ICE facilities in Gilroy and Dublin, the community needs strong leadership from
the City Council and City administration to both oppose those facilities and establish concrete protections. Our
City should oppose this possible detention facility because we must combat this anti-immigrant agenda that
destabilizes our communities and tears families apart. In this dire crisis, we greatly appreciate your brave local
leadership in taking a public stand, together with all our communities, to oppose any detention facility in our
City.
I further urge you to agendize a “No-Staging” policy for June 15 because I do not want any City-owned or City-
controlled property, such as public parks, public school grounds, and public parking lots, to be used as a
staging ground for immigration enforcement activity. Our tax-funded public property belongs to the people who
live here, not to the agents terrorizing them. Our tax dollars should strengthen schools, hospitals, and safe
neighborhoods - not tear our families apart. I do not want to see my Gilroy controlled by untrained, armed ICE
agents.
As the City built by our diverse immigrant and farmworker communities, we must pass and implement all
protections to make our City truly safe from the harms of immigration enforcement. Thank you for your courage
in creating this powerful resolution to publicly oppose any immigration detention facility in Gilroy and for your
bold leadership in prioritizing the safety of our people.
Thank you,
Nasreen Mahmud (she/her)
Legislative Coordinator, Northern California
Amnesty International USA
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