HomeMy WebLinkAbout06 15 2026 - Item 9.4 - Maretta Juarez1
Stefan Mercer
From:maretta j <marettaj@hotmail.com>
Sent:Friday, June 12, 2026 4:16 PM
To:Mayor Greg Bozzo; Council Member Dion Bracco; Council Member Tom Cline; Council
Member Terence Fugazzi; Council Member Zachary Hilton; Council Member Kelly
Ramirez; Council Member Carol Marques; Public Comments
Cc:Kim Mancera; Matt Morley
Subject:EXTERNAL - Build on your resolution with concrete protections
Dear Mayor, Mayor Pro Tempore, and City Councilmembers,
My name is Maretta Juarez, and I am resident of Gilroy. I was born and raised in Gilroy and chose to raise my
children in Gilroy. I've lived in Gilroy for over 65 years. Thank you for unanimously approving the resolution
opposing the proposed ICE facility in Gilroy. City property should be used for City purposes — and I'm writing
to ask you to build on your resolution with three concrete protections.
1. Before the end of June, join the amicus brief being filed by the County of Monterey with the Public Rights
Project. The brief supports the lawsuit filed jointly by Santa Clara County and the California Attorney General
on June 10. The counties of Monterey and Alameda and the cities of San Jose and Alameda have already
signed on, with more in process. Gilroy belongs in this coalition.
2. Agendize a "No-Staging Zone" policy for your next Council meeting, prohibiting the use of City property —
parking lots, parks, and other City-owned or City-controlled land — for civil immigration enforcement staging
and operations. Gilroy can move quickly, as Campbell, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View did, by adapting the
policies adopted by San Jose (1/13/26) and Santa Clara (2/3/26). These were developed with thorough review
by County Counsel and the San Jose City Attorney, and have also been adopted by VTA and the Counties of
Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, San Francisco, and Alameda. Gilroy benefits from that legal groundwork.
3. Establish an emergency response plan so the City is prepared to protect public safety and support residents
in the event of a large-scale enforcement operation, using the San Jose and Santa Clara County models to
strengthen Gilroy's existing protocols.
This matters to me because Gilroy has been a safe diverse community to raise children. As a native Gilroyan,
our immigrant and farmworker communities have been the backbone of our community. Everyone should be
treated with dignity and respect no matter their race, religion or sexual orientation. ICE, BCP, and detention
centers (concentration camps) have traumatized people across the nation. The horror stories of abuse and
neglect in the detention centers, video clips of violent arrests and detainment, and killings have been
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catastrophic to our sense of humanity and psyche. This cannot be Gilroy's legacy or the legacy of Gilroy's
Mayor and City Council. We all should learn from mistakes in the past -the Holocaust, the Japanese
internment camps, and recently in Minnesota. Gilroy cannot be associated in contributing to ethnic cleansing,
racial prejudice, or gross and horrific violations of civil liberties. This hysteria must stop!
Beyond the immense human cost — families torn apart, children losing parents, neighbors living in fear —
these protections matter for our economy as well as our safety. A March 2026 report from the Bay Area
Council Economic Institute found that mass deport ation could reduce regional economic output by as much as
$67 billion annually. Gilroy's businesses depend on workers and customers who will be driven away by fear
and detention.
Gilroy has been built by diverse immigrant and farmworker communities. Thank you for your leadership, and
for taking these next steps for the safety and well-being of our community.
Respectfully,
Maretta Juarez
Native born resident of Gilroy