ICE-free zones, a policy enacted in Chicago and the South Bay that bans federal immigration agents from using county or city property during deportation operations, could be coming to the East Bay.
Jurisdictions across the region have declared themselves sanctuary or welcoming cities committed to protecting immigrant populations by banning collaboration with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Berkeley and Alameda County officials are now considering implementing enforcement-free zones as another way to further protect the community.
“If it’s harder to stage in the city, it’s harder to come and be organized. Anything we can do to make our residents feel safer, I think that’s what we’re focused on, helping our residents to feel safer and to be safer,” Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii said.
Berkeley councilmembers unanimously voted on Oct. 28 to direct the city manager to identify a list of city-owned properties and to work with the city attorney on drafting a policy that would require those sites to only be used for city purposes or activities approved by the city manager.
Just days before that vote, East Bay communities had learned the Trump administration planned to deploy about 100 ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents to Coast Guard Island in Alameda for an immigration-enforcement campaign.
Protests against the operation were held across the region, including just outside the entrance to Coast Guard Island where federal agents fired a chemical agent toward a protester from just feet away, and security personnel later opened fire on a U-Haul truck that had backed up toward a barrier on the island’s bridge, injuring the driver and an apparent bystander.
President Donald Trump reportedly called off the “surge” operation after a phone conversation with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, but skeptical East Bay leaders have remained cautious, taking the initial threat as a warning sign to be prepared for future actions.
“It was incredibly urgent then,” Ishii said about the timing of the ICE-free zone proposal. “It’s hard to say when we may need this policy, which is also why it continues to be urgent.”
Ishii said staff have reached out to city partners like University of California, Berkeley, the Berkeley Unified School District and Bay Area Rapid Transit to see if similar preventative measures could be put in place on their properties.
School district representatives did not respond to a request for comment and a BART spokesperson said the transportation agency’s Safe Transit Policy, which prohibits the use of funds or resources for federal immigration enforcement, already addresses the issue.
Inspiration for the Berkeley proposal came from Chicago, Santa Clara County and San Jose where similar policies were adopted in October, Ishii said. The Berkeley mayor had also spoken with Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas, who was working on an ICE-free zone policy of her own that would cover county property, including parking lots and public parks.
Like the Berkeley proposal, Fortunato Bas is calling for the county to create its own inventory and to use barriers to block entrances of sites wherever possible. The measure would also direct staff to draft a policy prohibiting federal agents from staging on those sites and require employees to report any attempts by agents to use county property.
The recommendation report submitted by Fortunato Bas notes that ICE will receive $75 billion more in funding over the next four years under the latest Republican-approved federal budget dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Those dollars will specifically go toward building detention facilities, and hiring, training and retaining more ICE officers, according to the legislation.
While the recent large-scale operation may have been canceled, Fortunato Bas noted ICE agents have still been in communities detaining people at immigration court hearings, routine check-ins and their homes.
“There’s a slight sense of relief that there isn’t this huge militarized presence conducting massive raids but there’s still a sense of panic and fear,” Fortunato Bas said. “There’s a clear sense in the community that this president, this administration wants immigrants to leave. It’s a hard environment for people to live in, every day being fearful you can be separated from your family.”
That fear has resulted in community events like Berkeley High School canceling its Día de los Muertos celebration, and people avoiding daily responsibilities and errands like going to the grocery store, work, school and church, Ishii and Fortunato Bas said.
Bay Area communities have long organized against federal immigration actions under both political parties, Fortunato Bas said. The latest actions by the Trump administration and Republicans has emboldened people to continue that work today, from business leaders attending know-your-rights events in Berkeley to learn how they can protect their employees to neighbors grocery shopping and walking children to school for immigrant families, Ishii said.
“This administration would like to see us live in fear. They would like to see us give up, but we’re not going to give up,” Fortunato Bas said. “The community is organized, and the community will stay organized.”