Following public concern over the detention of at least two dozen immigrants in October, U.S. Rep. Josh Harder and Stockton Councilmember Mario Enríquez have pressed the city’s federal immigration facility for answers — but immigration officials have yet to respond.
The congressman and councilmember both have said they have sent letters to the facility requesting access and accountability.
In a letter obtained by Stocktonia, Harder (D-Tracy) demanded the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s acting head Todd Lyons to address the Stockton facility’s “concerning ICE activity,” and to describe how its activity aligns with its “stated community safety mission.”
“People in Stockton are now afraid to appear for required ICE appointments, to ask where a detained family member was taken, or to cooperate with law enforcement at all,” Harder wrote in his Oct. 28 letter, two days after at least 50 northern California residents were called to the facility.
About 25 immigrants were detained at the ICE office that Saturday, which is normally open Monday through Friday, according to immigration advocates and lawyers.
“My constituents deserve clarity and accountability from the federal government,” Harder wrote.
Enríquez requested an “on-site” visit to an unnamed “field office director” in his own letter last week.
“A lot of citizens are concerned about what’s happening,” Enríquez said in a video posted to social media as he dropped off a physical copy of his letter at a post office on Stockton’s Miracle Mile. “I’m going to make sure that I can get into that building to find out what’s happening.
This is Enríquez’s second time requesting an in-person visit to the Stockton ICE facility, his first having been sent in late October, according to the councilmember’s social media. Enríquez has yet to share a copy of his October letter with Stocktonia.
Harder also asked Lyons to describe “all uses of force” to deter protestors, including the use of chemical sprays, zip ties and other crowd control tactics. At least one protester was allegedly maced outside the facility in October, according to bystanders interviewed by Stocktonia.
“Similar tactics have been seen across California and other states,” Harder wrote, referencing masked agents and arrests of nonviolent protestors and U.S. citizens. The events in Stockton last October “appear to be part of that pattern,” he had said.
Harder warned Lyons that he would pursue “all available oversight tools” if he failed to respond by Nov. 7.
Immigration officials have yet to respond to their inquiries, according to Enríquez and a spokesperson for Harder’s office.
A spokesperson for Harder did not answer Stocktonia’s questions about what the oversight tools should entail, including whether the congressman would request a site visit.
Harder’s demand for information from Lyons is as follows:
Last Tuesday, U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff conducted their own visit at the state’s largest immigrant detention center in California City, where more than 1,400 people are jailed, Cal Matters reported. In December, the California Attorney General’s Office called the facility “dangerous” and “inadequate” in its living conditions.
The Department of Homeland Security, which houses ICE, is barred from preventing members of congress and staff from entering its facilities for the purpose of oversight, according to a federal appropriations law passed in 2024. Prior notice of such a visit is not required, it states.
Yet earlier this month, DHS directed members of congress to give a seven days’ notice before visiting an ICE facility, a policy that was backed by a federal judge last Monday.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment about the letters sent by the two elected officials, or Stocktonia’s multiple inquiries about its Stockton facility, including specifics about the random weekend summons in October.
“It’s very much an ego check,” Nora Zaragoza-Yáñez, program manager for Faith in the Valley’s rapid response network, said about the lack of response to Harder and Enríquez. “It’s very much trying to flex authority.”
Including the October mass summons, ICE has detained at least 49 immigrants following appointments at the central Stockton facility, according to social media alertsby immigrant rights group Faith in the Valley.
Last Saturday, two others were detained — one during a traffic stop near Hammer Lane after a grocery run with his wife, the other at his home — Zaragoza-Yáñez said.
Many of those detained in Stockton are Hispanic, Latino or South Asian, with the latter specifically being from the Sikh Punjabi community, Zaragoza-Yáñez added.