Three U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and a volunteer who had been monitoring federal activity were injured and received medical care at a San Jose hospital early Saturday morning, as tensions outside Santa Clara County jail facilities continue to climb. Santa Clara County said hospital staff treated and released all four people, though the extent and causes of their injuries were not immediately clear.
According to The Mercury News, the Santa Clara County Rapid Response Network said volunteers and members of the public were targeted by ICE agents outside Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas in the early hours of Saturday, and the network alleged agents used excessive force during the encounter. The network describes itself as a nonprofit that tracks immigration enforcement activity and provides emergency legal services to immigrants, per the same report.
County officials have said hospital workers followed all guidelines and procedures while treating the agents and the member of the public on Saturday. Santa Clara County officials did not provide additional information about the patients, and an email seeking details from an ICE spokesperson about the agents' condition and assignment did not receive an immediate response, the outlet reported.
A Second Incident in the Same Week
A Second Incident in the Same Week Saturday's hospital visits came just days after another confrontation outside the same jail complex. Federal immigration agents used a Taser on a man after he was released from Elmwood Correctional Facility on Oct. 28, pursuing him and another man on foot after they ran from a car, according to San José Spotlight. The man was taken to Regional Medical Center and released the following morning, according to San José Spotlight, and the Saturday episode marked the second incident of its kind that week.
Regional Medical Center is part of Valley Healthcare, Santa Clara County's network of hospitals and clinics, and is located in San Jose. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that federal immigration activity has been observed at both Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas and the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose, according to KTVU. The sheriff's office said it does not participate in this type of federal enforcement activity and has not received information from ICE about its operations or intentions.
Jails Under Near-Constant Watch
Observers told San José Spotlight that about 10 to 12 ICE agents had been seen at Santa Clara County jails every day during the week leading up to Saturday's incident. Members of the Rapid Response Network said they monitored ICE agents at Elmwood Jail for a third consecutive day on Saturday, October 24, according to NBC Bay Area.
NBC Bay Area reported that ICE agents were in the Main Jail lobby and outside the building, apparently waiting for people to be released. ABC7 News separately reported on June 26, 2025, that the sheriff's office said federal agents had been appearing more frequently at county and state buildings over the three weeks before then, according to ABC7 News.
Accounts of exactly how many people have been swept up diverge. San José Spotlight reported that about 70 people have been detained by federal agents near county jails since June 2025, citing the sheriff's office, while NBC Bay Area reported the sheriff's office saying ICE agents have been visiting jail lobbies for more than a year and have taken 60 people into custody who were scheduled for release. The sheriff's office maintains it does not coordinate with ICE or notify the agency of release dates, per NBC Bay Area's reporting.
County Funding and Regional Ripple Effects
The Milpitas Beat reported that ICE arrests of people leaving Santa Clara County jails have increased significantly since the middle of 2025, describing a pattern that has intensified in recent months. Santa Clara County has responded by earmarking more than $8 million for immigration-related services in its FY25-26 budget, which county officials describe as the largest such investment in county history, according to the County of Santa Clara News Center.
Similar flashpoints have surfaced elsewhere in the region. Monterey County officials temporarily locked down their county jail when ICE agents arrived, barring visitors and releases until the lockdown was lifted hours later, according to Palo Alto Online. In Oakland, ICE took a patient from Highland Hospital without showing a warrant, officials told The Oaklandside, while nurses and advocates in Watsonville condemned the suspected presence of ICE agents near hospitals and the Monterey County Jail, according to KSBW, stressing concerns about patient safety.
The broader economic stakes have also drawn attention from regional business groups. A Bay Area Council report estimated that mass deportations could reduce California's gross domestic product by $275 billion, ABC7 News reported. For now, Santa Clara County officials have not resolved the underlying dispute over how much access ICE agents should have to publicly accessible areas of county jail facilities, even as both sides describe an increasingly tense standoff playing out in jail lobbies and parking lots across the South Bay.
