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.<\/p>\n
Critics of ICE\u2019s operations say that targeting immigrants who are cooperating with authorities is deceptive. At Friday\u2019s protest, District 5 City Councilmember Peter Ortiz characterized the federal administration\u2019s actions toward immigrants as \u201cdomestic terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are targeting residents, law-abiding residents, for nothing more than simply not having papers, for not having citizenship. That\u2019s disgusting. That\u2019s things that we see in fascist governments, and it\u2019s happening here in our very own backyard,\u201d Ortiz said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s already apparent from these last two weeks that ICE activity has been increasing. We\u2019ve seen more than ten people detained last week; we\u2019re seeing more detained this week. Our community can\u2019t wait. Our gente can\u2019t wait,\u201d Ortiz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are under attack, and it\u2019s the city\u2019s job to make sure that the people of the city of San Jos\u00e9 are safe, regardless of their citizenship.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThose 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,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n The supervision program \u201cexists to ensure compliance with release conditions. All illegal aliens are afforded due process,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n District 2 City Councilmember Pamela Campos, who represents the area where the protest took place, said the city of San Jos\u00e9 is beautiful because it was built on the strength of a diverse immigrant population.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd 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,\u201d Campos said during the protest.<\/p>\n Dozens of volunteers and activists held signs outside the USCIS office that read \u201cNo Deportations!\u201d and \u201cICE out of San Jos\u00e9.\u201d They chanted slogans like \u201cStand up, fight back,\u201d and \u201cSi, se puede.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The group entered the office building that houses an ICE office, which was closed, and then exited.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong, who represents District 2 \u2014 the highest concentration of immigrants in the county \u2014 thanked the protesters for speaking up for those who can\u2019t speak for themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s dangerous right now in this current political climate, against the backdrop of federal legislation which is unduly burdening immigrants and targeting immigrant communities,\u201d Duong told KQED. \u201cThese are folks who say, \u2018We will not back down. We will protect our neighbors and our friends and our community members.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u201cout-organize ICE\u201d through efforts like barrio walks.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we seek to do is go door to door, letting people know of their rights, passing out \u2018Know Your Rights\u2019 literature, engaging with the community,\u201d Magdaleno said.<\/p>\n \u201cLetting the community know how they can stand up against ICE \u2014 how the community can intimidate ICE instead of ICE intimidating us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.kqed.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/06\/250606-SJICEPROTEST-JG-5-KQED.jpg\")
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