Gilroy and Morgan Hill Unified School Districts have joined a countywide wave of school boards formally opposing a proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility near Gilroy, with local leaders saying the fight extends far beyond district lines.
GUSD was the first school district in Santa Clara County to adopt a resolution against the facility, with the board of education having adopted it on May 28. MHUSD followed Aug. 20.
The two districts were among those represented Sept. 2 at a press conference at the Santa Clara County Government Center in San Jose, where county and school officials announced that 15 school boards across the county have now adopted similar resolutions. Officials also announced that a joint letter opposing the facility has been signed by more than 50 trustees and superintendents.
Tuyen Fiack, Gilroy Unified’s board president, said the district felt an obligation to act first because the facility is proposed for its own community.
“For Gilroy, it was especially important that we lead, because the proposed detention facility is coming to our community, to South County—and too often, South County has had to fight to make sure our voices are heard in regional conversations,” Fiack said. “This time, Gilroy spoke early and clearly. We said that our community should be known for what we build for our children, not for where we detain families.”
Fiack said the issue quickly grew beyond one city. Santa Clara County’s public schools serve about 229,000 students, and more than 165,000 of them live in mixed-immigration-status households, according to figures Fiack attributed to the Santa Clara County Office of Education.
“Our students do not live their lives according to district boundaries,” Fiack said, noting that families often have relatives spread across Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Jose and beyond. “That is why seeing school districts across the county stand in solidarity matters.”
MHUSD Superintendent Dr. Carmen Garcia, who described herself as an immigrant and the daughter of teachers who believed in her, said the threat of the detention facility is not abstract for families in her district.
“The consequences will permeate into their school, shaping their learning, their goals, and their sense of efficacy and self-worth, leading to trauma, anxiety, possible chronic absenteeism and disengagement,” Garcia said.
Garcia said roughly 8,000 students and 800 employees are part of the Morgan Hill Unified community, and that legal status “does not matter” in how the district treats students.
“We ask our community at large to reject” the argument that immigrants are criminals, Garcia said. “It distracts from their humanity and their contributions.”
The proposed facility, planned near Gilroy, has been the subject of litigation for months. County Counsel Tony LoPresti and California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit earlier this summer seeking to halt its development, and county officials said Sept. 2 that more than 10 lawsuits have now been filed against the federal government over the project.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, whose district includes part of South County, said the board has also pursued a no-staging policy, which she described as an “ICE-free zone” restricting county property from being used to stage civil immigration enforcement operations.
Yes. Of course they are against it. They would lose a lot of students, and the funding that comes with them. Follow the money.
Morgan Hill and Gilroy Unified should stop pretending there’s no financial stake in this debate. California school funding is closely tied to enrollment, so if immigration enforcement results in fewer undocumented families living in the area, districts could see fewer students and less funding. That may be an uncomfortable reality, but it shouldn’t determine whether ICE facilities are supported. Immigration policy should be based on public safety, the rule of law, and what is best for the community, not on preserving enrollment numbers or protecting school-district revenue.
A doctor who refuses to make the distinction between legal immigrant and illegal border crosser, rich. NICE hasn’t broken up anyone, those “families” who decided breaking federal law over risking their own kin are to blame. They’re more than welcome to return to their native countries “en masse”, no questions asked.
Well, here come the crying complaining conservatives once again
If you don’t like California or Santa Clara County, then leave
Simple as that
As an immigrant and parent, I’m glad GUSD and MHUSD are protecting my kids and I. California’s education system helped me learn English, graduate, and becoming a citizen. Thank you Gilroy and Morgan Hill Unified. 🤎
They’re being deported “en masse” (keeping the families together, you know). Simple as that!
Illegals are never granted citizen status and citizens are never deported. New citizens are required to learn civics (there’s a test), Marta’s a clueless liar.
Surprised Mark hasn’t chimed in, probably too busy indoctrinating students and planning another illegal walkout.
Gracias a dios que las escuelas estan defendiendo a los estudiantes immigrants.
These same schools are failing our students! We are closer to the bottom in ranking than the top schools in the Nation. My family comes from a country where we speak an average of five different languages and nearly 15 and 2 percent of the students graduate with Master and Doctorates respectively. Over half are woman. Älä anna hämätä itseäsi!
Decent locals and their generations raised are those most affected by Biden’s open border policy, what a sad irony. Everyone suffers and the community is now more divided than ever.
Let’s go Gilroy Unified! Thank you for protecting all americans
Thank you Biden for allowing more immigrants and Orange for hiring them
If you guys are really unhappy you should go protest in person in front GUSD and MHUSD, all this crying on here sounding like babies. Keep up the crusade keyboard warriors.
Cry all you want, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Birthright Citizenship 6-3 🤣
Your own party ruled against you 🤣 just like Reagan did back in the 80s with IRCA that legalized millions of illegals
Looks like Republicans really like illegals, Reagan in the 80s, Republicans in the 2020s 🤣
Cry all you want, your own party is doing this to you lmfao
All these boomers whining on here, meanwhile the party leaders will ignore them and keep on allowing immigrants 😬
As an anchor baby, I’m glad us immigrants keep coming and are having more babies than the White Americans.
Cry harder MAGA, that’s all you can do
Crying conservatives? Cry harder MAGA? You libtards are the ones protesting, crying, filing lawsuits, and hurling out insults…. Alot of projection going on in your commentary. Your savior Obama deported way more illegal aliens. Only difference is, the dem establishment allowed him to go into the jails to do it. Dems are blocking ICE from doing that, so they have no choice but to execute immigration warrants in communities as opposed to jails. But you liberals don’t care…. You’re the useful idiots the Dem party needs for votes….
ICE facility provides a great employment opportunity. Especially for our American citizens that speak Spanish. Im excited about humane facility being built to guide the illegals back. It also useful for education. the illegal immigrant can learn there is a proper way to enter the U.S.
And orange loses another court case, by his own appointed Justices, lmfao
7-2 , US Supreme Court blocks postal service from restricting mail ballots
Man, you guys are taking all these L’s 🤣