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Contra Costa Officials Move to Bar ICE from County Property as Advocates Protest Courthouse Detentions
Immigrant rights advocates rallied outside the Contra Costa County Courthouse after public defenders said ICE agents detained people on county property, including in the courthouse parking lot. County supervisors are set to vote next week on a policy explicitly prohibiting ICE from staging operations on county land.
Dozens of immigrant rights advocates gathered outside the Contra Costa County Courthouse on Thursday morning to protest what they describe as a sharp increase in federal immigration enforcement activity across the county, as local officials prepare to vote on a policy that would formally bar ICE from operating on county property.
The demonstration followed claims by the county public defender's office that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been conducting operations on county property for the past two weeks. Attorneys with the office said video footage shows ICE agents detaining a person in the courthouse parking lot last week, and they allege the agency detained another person on a similar matter on Thursday.
Legal observers with the public defender's office said they have been monitoring ICE activity in the courthouse parking lot and believe the agency is breaking the law. The office argues that ICE's "unlawful and persistent presence" has made the community less safe.
Protesters voiced anger at both the federal agency and county leadership. "It's aggravating, it makes me angry. It makes me sad. I can't believe that our country is doing this," demonstrator Sheila McGrath said. Mary-Beth Meyer, another protester, said: "It's obscene. I'm outraged by it and I'm outraged that our county leaders haven't done anything to stop ICE from operating on our county property."
The county board of supervisors is scheduled to vote next week on a new policy that would make clear ICE is prohibited from staging on county property.
The rally also drew attention to the case of Ann Lawani, a John Muir nurse and University of San Francisco professor who was arrested by ICE at her Lodi home eight weeks ago. Her brother, Sam Lawani, said her detention has taken a heavy toll on the family. He said she had been caring for their 83-year-old father, who has spine cancer.
"The day she was picked up his health took a dive, his nervous system completely crashed. And then that's when we started this whole running to the ER and ICU," Sam Lawani said.
He said there has been no movement in her case because the court is backlogged, and that she remains locked up in Louisiana. He described the bus trip there as incredibly harsh.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
The dispute comes as Bay Area local governments weigh how far they can go to limit federal immigration enforcement on public property, and as immigrant communities and their allies press elected officials for clearer protections. The supervisors' vote next week will test whether the county is willing to codify those limits.