Federal immigration agents were in the lobby of Santa Clara County's Main Jail on Hedding Street in San Jose on Sunday, NBC Bay Area reported, as volunteers from the county's Rapid Response Network watched people being released.
The visit followed several days of ICE activity at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, where agents were seen for a third straight day on Saturday.
What the sheriff says
- The sheriff's office says it does not coordinate with ICE, tell the agency about release dates, or know about its operations in advance.
- ICE has visited the jail lobby from time to time for more than a year and has taken 60 people into custody who were set to be released, the office said.
- On Thursday, the office said agents made no arrests at Elmwood and stayed in areas open to the public.
"We had seen people and known people that were being released from jail and they never made it home because ICE was waiting for them," Raj Jayadev of Silicon Valley De-Bug told NBC Bay Area last week.
Advocates say the activity conflicts with the county's policy against helping civil immigration enforcement. NBC Bay Area noted that no sanctuary policy can stop agents from waiting in public areas of a jail.