Alameda County officials oppose potential reopening of FCI Dublin prison for ICE

Chase Hunter and Kyle Martin, The Mercury News on Apr 8, 2026

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously opposed any efforts to reopen FCI Dublin women’s prison as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center and processing facility as part of the Trump administration’s broader deportation agenda.

During a board meeting Tuesday, some county residents voiced concerns over the prospect of redeveloping the controversial prison – which was shutdown over the rampant sexual abuse of inmates – into a facility for detaining and deporting immigrants by ICE, an agency which has been subject to complaints of abuse and neglect at other facilities.

“ICE detention subjects people to inhumane conditions and abuse and ICE activity is causing deaths, violence and trauma throughout our communities,” said Sophie Sarkar, a member of Tsuru for Solidarity, an organization of Japanese-American survivors and descendants of U.S. internment camps. “Across the country, we’re seeing that steadfast, strong local opposition from everyday citizens and elected officials is working to stop detention expansion.”

The Bureau of Prisons previously told this news organization in a statement that “FCI Dublin remains under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice and there are no plans to reopen it.”

East Bay officials have been outspoken against the Trump administration’s possible use of the former prison after federal officers were spotted assessing the shuttered facility in 2025.

In a joint letter dated Feb. 17, Sen. Adam Schiff, Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Mark DeSaulnier told former Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem the Dublin prison was “not suitable to be reopened for any purpose and would endanger the lives of both detainees and staff.”

The Federal Bureau of Prisons announced the facility’s permanent closure in December 2024 after reports exposed security guards and staff were sexually abusing female inmates for years.

The California representatives, all Democrats, highlighted the “toxic culture” that had allowed a “rape club” to be established among staff, including former warden Ray J. Garcia – one of nine ex-prison staffers charged with sexually abusing incarcerated women at the facility, according to court records.

Garcia was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison in 2023 for the sexual abuse of three female inmates during his tenure.

The prospect of ICE using FCI Dublin has faced widespread opposition across the East Bay.

Grassroots organizations, such as ICE Out of Dublin Coalition, have organized protests. The Dublin City Council unanimously passed a resolution against ICE’s use and operation of the former prison on Dec. 16, 2025. City leaders admitted they did not have the legal authority to prevent the Trump administration from using the facility.

Some like Sarkar equated a detention center in Dublin to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II or to the Jewish concentration camps of Nazi Germany.

“I’m a member of the Icelander Dublin coalition and Tsuru for solidarity, an organization of Japanese-American survivors and descendants of U.S. concentration camps working to stop the expansion of immigrant detention,” said Sarkar. “We know that separating families and holding human beings in inhumane carceral conditions causes deep harm that is passed down from generation to generation.”

District 2 Supervisor Elisa Marquez praised the opposition to the possible redevelopment and ICE’s actions against immigrants across the country. She noted the deaths of American citizens killed as the result of immigration efforts under the Trump administration – Renée Good, Alex Pretti, Keith Porter Jr., and Ruben Ray Martinez – and how similar crackdowns and expansions in the East Bay would not go unchallenged.

“We hear you on behalf of all of the residents here in Alameda County and in the country that have been traumatized, that have been disappeared,” Marquez said. “I am proud to move the adoption of the resolution opposing the reopening or repurposing of the former Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin for any future detention or correctional operations.”

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