Alameda County committee advances immigration‑response plan, delays ICE‑free zone vote for more departmental vetting

The Alameda County Together for All Ad Hoc Committee on Tuesday reviewed a draft county response plan for immigration enforcement and a proposed resolution to limit federal immigration enforcement activities on county‑owned or county‑controlled property, but stopped short of approving the ICE‑free zones policy pending more departmental review.

Supervisor Fortunato Bass, who chaired the meeting, framed the two items as urgent county priorities in light of recent federal enforcement operations and funding increases. She asked the County Administrator to develop and return a response plan for the Board’s consideration and described the draft ICE‑free policy as including an inventory of county properties, signage options, reporting protocols for staff and a legal review to ensure compliance with state and federal law.

Anika Chowdhury, interim director of Alameda County Health, said the agency has used a modified incident‑command structure and issued guidance for staff, noting that facilities are subject to HIPAA constraints that limit data sharing. “All of our buildings do have up‑to‑date protocols on building‑specific security,” Chowdhury said, adding that agency staff have been instructed to prioritize safety and follow protocols if ICE or other enforcement appears at a health facility.

Mary Hannah Weir, lead deputy county counsel for Santa Clara County, joined by Zoom to share regional lessons. She said Santa Clara will present options to its board in early December and emphasized coordination with labor, public safety and community rapid‑response networks. “We are doing that keeping in mind certain important principles,” Weir said, including adherence to state and federal law and protection of constitutional and privacy rights.

Public commenters overwhelmingly urged the committee to adopt strong protections and to oppose reopening the former federal women’s prison in Dublin as an ICE detention facility. Mickey Duxbury of the 1st Unitarian Church of Oakland told supervisors that the county should “unequivocally state that the county does not support the federal government turning the former women's prison in Dublin into a detention center.”

Speakers from East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, ACORD and other coalitions reiterated that past research links local detention facilities with higher local arrest rates and urged the county to ensure that no county services or contracts would be used to support any detention operation in Alameda County.

Committee members agreed they need more input before advancing the ICE‑free zones policy. Vice Chair Supervisor Alisa Marquez said she wanted to hear from the General Services Agency and the county’s justice partners (probation, sheriff, public defender and district attorney), and to get an Alameda Health System update on compliance with SB 81 training requirements for health facilities.

The chair moved to forward the presentation and report to the full Board for visibility; the roll call on that motion recorded votes of "Aye" from Supervisor Marquez and Supervisor Fortunato Bass. For the ICE‑free zones policy the committee directed staff to continue development and return with additional analysis and presentations from GSA, justice partners and County Council before the Board considers a final resolution.

What’s next: the committee will reconvene with invited department heads and justice partners to fill gaps identified in today’s discussion and to refine the ICE‑free policy language and implementation details before bringing a recommended resolution to the full Board.