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Taking a cue from other jurisdictions, Mountain View added a new tool to its playbook to try and block the possibility of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security setting up an immigration detention center in the city.
The City Council unanimously approved an “urgency ordinance” Tuesday evening that puts a temporary moratorium on the filing, acceptance, processing or approval of applications that seek to establish detention, custodial or processing facilities in Mountain View.
The ordinance intends to “preserve the status quo” and does not apply to routine law enforcement or other specified activities, according to the Oct. 13 staff report. That includes hospitals or medical facilities that temporarily limit a patient’s movements, ordinary supervision at schools, child care or residential care facilities and judicial hearing locations.
“This is such a testament to the community that we’re building,” Council member Ellen Kamei said. “Items like this can reaffirm and show our residents that we’re with them and that we care.”
While effective immediately, the ordinance only lasts for 45 days – that is until Nov. 27. However, the City Council can extend it for an additional 22 months and 15 days, according to the staff report. In the interim, city staff plan to evaluate the potential impacts of detention centers and develop options to regulate them through land use restrictions.
“This is a zoning change,” Council member Pat Showalter said. “This is within our powers.”
Mountain View’s response to Trump administration
Currently, there are no U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention or custodial centers in Mountain View. But city officials are not taking any chances and are looking to proactively close loopholes that could give ICE a foothold in the city.
Earlier this year, Mountain View took action to push back against the Trump administration and adopted a policy banning ICE from using city-owned or city-controlled property for civil immigration enforcement.
In June, Mountain View also signed onto a legal brief supporting a lawsuit, filed by state Attorney General Rob Bonta and Santa Clara County, challenging the construction of an ICE facility near Gilroy. Last month, U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee ordered ICE to temporarily halt construction at the site until an environmental review was completed.
Following the court ruling, Rep. Sam Liccardo, who represents portions of Santa Clara County, published a toolkit to help local governments use zoning laws to make it harder for ICE to construct or acquire future detention facilities.
Part of that work is explicitly defining detention, custodial and processing facilities in local zoning ordinances and specifying that they are not an allowable land use. Mountain View’s adopted urgency ordinance defines those terms and conditions while also buying the city more time to develop a permanent ordinance.
Public response to ordinance
The urgency ordinance received support from more than a dozen community members who submitted letters and spoke at the Oct. 13 meeting. They described the ordinance as a tool to protect the public safety, health and welfare of residents. They also expressed concern that ICE could be looking for other sites in the region to build a detention center, after the court ruling stymied the one near Gilroy.
“The threat is real and immediate,” said Mountain View resident Melissa Dinwoodie, founder and president of Indivisible Palo Alto Plus. “More detention capacity means more arrests and harsher tactics.”
Erik Poicon, a City Council candidate and Human Relations Committee member, stressed the importance of the ordinance for immigrant residents.
“They should know that we as a city see what they’re going through and that their safety matters to us here in Mountain View,” he said.
James Kuszmaul, a City Council candidate and Bicycle Pedestrian and Advisory Committee member, also voiced support for the ordinance.
“I wanted to write to express my support for the urgency ordinance to help throw up legal barriers to any future attempts by the federal government to creating any form of detention facility in the city limits,” he wrote in a letter to the council.
Other jurisdictions that have adopted similar ordinances include Gilroy and San Jose as well as San Mateo, Monterey and Napa counties, according to a press release from Liccardo’s office.
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