The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office on Friday restricted the parking lot and lobby of Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas to people who have direct business there, NBC Bay Area reported, after days of federal immigration agents gathering outside county jails to meet people as they were released.
Observers with the Santa Clara County Rapid Response Network and the watchdog group Silicon Valley De-Bug say roughly 10 to 12 agents have been seen each day for the past week at Elmwood and at the Main Jail in San Jose, standing in lobbies, waiting in parking lots and driving near county offices, according to San José Spotlight.
The Wednesday night chase
The step followed an incident about 10 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28. Rapid Response Network volunteers told San José Spotlight that agents followed a car carrying two men who had just been released from Elmwood, chased them on foot after they left the car, and used a Taser on one of them near a creek.
Observers said the man was taken to Regional Medical Center in East San Jose and released later that morning. Volunteers said it was the first local case they knew of in which agents used a Taser.
KTVU reported that the sheriff's office confirmed seeing federal agents near both jails, but said it was not involved in what spokesperson Brooks Jarosz called an "operation" and does not take part in that kind of enforcement.
"We are aware of people being stopped, questioned, and sometimes apprehended shortly after they're released," Jarosz told the station, adding that ICE had not shared information about its plans. KTVU said ICE did not respond to its request for comment.
According to figures the sheriff's office gave San José Spotlight, about 70 people have been detained by federal agents near county jails since June 2025.