The federal government will pause construction on a controversial planned immigration detention facility in South Santa Clara County.
Debbie Bradshaw (right) and Marilyn Kalpin (left) of Gilroy attend a rally in San José opposing a planned immigration detention center in Gilroy on May 14, 2026. (Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman/KQED)
Construction will pause on a controversial planned immigration detention facility outside Gilroy in Santa Clara County.
The federal government has agreed to hold off on construction of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility being developed just east of central Gilroy through Sept. 9. The voluntary stoppage is part of a scheduling compromise with attorneys for Santa Clara County and the Attorney General’s office, officials announced Monday evening.
Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office and the county have sued ICE and that lawsuit will continue despite the temporary stoppage.
“This pause in the construction, demolition and development at the site of the challenged ICE facility is a significant step toward protecting our people, our communities and our environment while the case remains ongoing,” Bonta said in a joint statement.
The county and the state are suing ICE over what they call the illegal development of a detention facility at 7240 Holsclaw Road, aiming to block it in the short- and long-term. They claim it violates environmental law and also intergovernmental cooperation laws, as they allege the federal government began working on it in secret, without notifying local or state officials.
The proposal generated immediate pushback from community members and local elected leaders.
The initial lawsuit was filed on June 10, and later that month, the coalition also filed a request for a preliminary injunction, asking a judge to halt the project immediately.
The hearing for that request was set for October, and the federal government would have had to file its formal opposition statements to the court by Monday.
In the agreement with the county and state, attorneys for ICE will get more time to respond to the request for the preliminary injunction, but the hearing for the request would be moved up to Sept. 8, according to court filings.
The federal judge in the case, Eumi K. Lee, signed off on the agreement Monday evening.
