Soledad City Council opposes proposed ICE detention centers in Bay Area.

Soledad City Council discussed proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in two nearby counties to the north, in Gilroy and Dublin, on Wednesday, May 20.

The council deliberated for about 15 minutes and ultimately passed a motion to send a letter of opposition for these facilities to state and federal officials State Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz; Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas, D-Hollister; U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose; and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“Since many of our residents are mixed-status families and we have a large immigrant population in Monterey County, especially in our community [of Soledad], this is important,” said Mayor Anna Velazquez.

Soledad’s population is 80-percent Latino, and 70 percent of residents speak another language, mainly Spanish. Thirty percent of its population is foreign-born.

At the meeting on Wednesday, Velazquez also recommended reviewing the city's zoning ordinance to ensure federal detention facilities cannot built in the city.

“There is not much space in Soledad, so in terms of us having [a facility] like that is almost impossible,” Council member Fernando Cabrera noted. 

There are seven active ICE detention centers in California. Since the news broke that the General Services Administration (GSA), a federal agency that manages government-owned assets, is seeking to lease a property for a detention center in Santa Clara County, local officials have been responding. The decision made by Soledad City Council is similar to one approved by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday May,19.

Earlier this month, the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin (in Alameda County) began the environmental review process, which is the first step in transferring the site to GSA.