In the U.S. District Court in San Jose, the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority on July 29 joined the filing of an amicus curiae brief in support of the lawsuit the State of California and Santa Clara County have filed to stop unlawful construction on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in unincorporated Santa Clara County near Gilroy.
Kathy Sutherland, Chair of the Board of Directors and District 4 Director of the Authority explained in a press release, “Construction of the ICE facility will impact Llagas Creek, which is designated ‘critical habitat’ for threatened species. We are the local public agency entrusted to protect and conserve our natural environment, support local agriculture and protect wildlife.
“The Llagas Creek riparian area provides foraging habitat and a migration corridor for wildlife including mountain lions, bobcats and the American badger. If allowed to go forward, this project will cause substantial environmental harm with negative ripple effects across the region for wildlife movement, water resources and local agriculture.
“We fully support this bold legal action initiated by the State and County to protect nature and the public investment in Santa Clara Valley’s natural and working lands.”
The lawsuit seeks to halt this project on multiple legal bases, including that the federal government has violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to analyze the environmental impacts of the project before beginning construction, says the press release.
The Trump administration recently announced that planning for the Gilroy-area ICE facility is on hold while they consider recent legal challenges.
