Alameda County Supervisors Oppose Potential East Bay ICE Detention Center

DUBLIN, CA — The Alameda County Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution opposing the reopening of the shuttered FCI Dublin women’s prison as any correctional facility, including an as an immigrant detention center.

Tuesday's resolution notes that “credible reports and public speculation have suggested that the federal government or federal contractors may be considering reactivating the site for detention or correctional operations.”

ICE and Department of Homeland Security officials have denied any plans to open a future facility.

The resolution formally opposes the reopening of FCI Dublin as any sort of correctional facility, citing the prison’s troubled past, health and safety concerns, and concerns about the effects a prison might have on the wider community. FCI Dublin permanently closed in December 2024 following a national sex scandal that saw the convictions of nine officers.

In early 2025, federal prison union sources released emails showing that ICE was considering reopening the prison as an immigrant detention facility, leading to local protests and a unanimous December 2025 resolution from the Dublin City Council opposing the measure.

Federal investigators also identified environmental hazards, including asbestos exposure and mold, that posed risks to inmates and staff.

County leaders also expressed concerns that such a facility would increase ICE activity in the area, and run contrary to the county’s identity as an official “Welcoming County” with 526,000 immigrants out of a total of 1.57 million residents.

Dozens of Alameda County residents spoke for roughly an hour during Tuesday’s meeting. “These institutions cause harm to incarcerated people’s families and communities, and any correctional facility should not be expanded. It’s time for restorative and transformative solutions,” said Kendra Drysdale, a survivor of abuse at FCI Dublin. Drysdale described the facility as “one of the darkest human rights scandals in California’s history.”

“As Japanese Americans, we know that separating families and holding human beings in inhumane carceral conditions causes deep harm that is passed down from generation to generation,” said Sophie Sarkar of Tsuru for Solidarity.

The prison is on federal land, so the resolution is non-binding.

"This [resolution] is symbolic because the federal government can do whatever it wants to do. But this is an expression of our community that we do not want this," said Supervisor David Haubert, who sponsored the resolution alongside Elisa Márquez.

SEE ALSO:

• Alameda Co. Supervisors To Vote On Conversion Of FCI Dublin Into ICE Facility
• Hundreds Protest FCI Dublin As Potential ICE Facility
• Scandal-Plagued East Bay Women's Prison To Close