ORDINANCE NO. 2026-XXX
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF UNION CITY ADDING CHAPTER 2.64 TO TITLE 2 OF THE UNION CITY MUNICIPAL CODE RESTRICTING THE
USE OF CITY-OWNED OR CITY-CONTROLLED PROPERTY FOR
FEDERAL CIVIL IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES
WHEREAS, the City of Union City is home to people of diverse racial, ethnic, and national backgrounds, including a large immigrant population; and WHEREAS, the City of Union City (“City”) is a welcoming, inclusive city that will protect the rights and privileges of everyone in Union City, regardless of immigration status, as stated in Resolution 5096-17 (the “Compassionate City Resolution”), which proclaims the City of Union City as a Compassionate City and prohibits the City from engaging in activities solely for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration law; and WHEREAS, immigrants are valuable and essential members of the City of Union City community who contribute to the City’s economic, civic, and cultural vitality; and WHEREAS, a strong and trusting relationship between the City’s immigrant communities and the City of Union City, including its departments, programs, and personnel, is essential to the public safety and well-being of all residents; and WHEREAS, this trust is undermined when state and local agencies become entangled with federal civil immigration enforcement, causing immigrant community members to fear reporting crimes, seeking health services, accessing City facilities, or engaging in civic life, which detracts from the safety and welfare of the entire community; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has undertaken broad civil immigration enforcement operations involving personnel from multiple federal agencies in ways that have generated concern among residents; and
WHEREAS, federal immigration enforcement activities can escalate fear and pose an immediate chilling effect on cities; and
WHEREAS, state and local governments bear primary responsibility for ensuring the safety and well-being of their communities and possess the discretion and authority to adopt policies best suited to those communities; and WHEREAS, the City of Union City believes that public safety is best achieved through trust and collaboration between residents and their local government, not through the militarization or deputization of local resources in service of federal civil immigration enforcement; and
WHEREAS, Section 2.08.190 of the Union City Municipal Code provides that the City Manager shall “exercise general supervision over all public buildings, public parks, and all other public property which are under the control and jurisdiction of the City Council”; and
WHEREAS, it is the existing practice and policy of the City to oversee City property and facilities and to investigate any unauthorized use of the same; and Ordinance No. 2026-XXX
Immigration Enforcement Property Use Ordinance
WHEREAS, the Compassionate City Resolution prohibits the City from engaging in activities solely for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration law; and WHEREAS, the City Manager is prohibited by the Compassionate City Resolution from exercising her authority under Union City Municipal Code Section 2.08.190 from allowing City buildings, public parks, and all other property for the enforcement of federal immigration law; and
WHEREAS, the City seeks to implement an ordinance to reiterate the principles outlined in the Compassionate City Resolution and Union City Municipal Code Section
2.08.190, protect public safety, ensure community members feel safe accessing City services and facilities, and prevent the use of City resources to support federal civil immigration enforcement.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Union City ordains as follows:
Section 1. Recitals.
The above recitals are true and correct and made a part of this ordinance.
Section 2. Amendment to Municipal Code.
Title 2 of the Union City Municipal Code is amended to add Chapter 2.64, to read as follows:
Chapter 2.64- Use of City-Owned and City-Controlled Property for Civil Immigration Enforcement Activities
2.64.010 Purpose
The purpose of this Chapter is to protect public safety, promote community trust, and ensure that non-public City-owned or City-controlled property is not used to support federal civil immigration enforcement activities, except when mandated by a valid judicial warrant or court order.
2.64.020 Definitions
For purposes of this Chapter:
“Civil Immigration Enforcement” means any investigation, detention, arrest, surveillance, monitoring, questioning, information-gathering, or operational activity undertaken for the primary purpose of enforcing federal civil immigration laws. “City Property” or “City-Owned or City-Controlled Property” means any real or personal property, land, building, facility, structure, vehicle, equipment, or space owned, leased, operated, or controlled by the City of Union City.
“Judicial Warrant or Court Order” means a warrant or order issued by a federal or state judge or magistrate based on probable cause and legally sufficient to compel compliance by the City.
Ordinance No. 2026-XXX
Immigration Enforcement Property Use Ordinance
“Operation Base” means an area used to plan or coordinate civil immigration enforcement operations.
“Processing location” means an area to identify and detain individuals for civil immigration enforcement purposes.
“Staging Area” means an area used to assemble, mobilize, and deploy vehicles for the purpose of carrying out civil immigration enforcement operations. “Surveillance” means observing, recording, monitoring, or collecting information about individuals for civil immigration enforcement purposes, including through cameras, license plate readers, drones, or other technologies.
2.64.030 Prohibited Uses of City Property.
Unless required by a valid judicial warrant or court order, no City-owned or City-controlled property or facility, including parking lots, vacant lots, garages, or nonpublic areas of buildings shall be used for staging areas, processing locations, interviewing, or temporarily detaining individuals for civil immigration purposes; surveillance or monitoring activities related to civil immigration enforcement; or as operations bases, coordination points, or logistical hubs for civil immigration enforcement actions.
2.64.040 Exceptions
Nothing in this Chapter shall prohibit federal officers or employees from entering areas of City property generally open to the public. Nothing in this Chapter prevents the City or any City employee from complying with a valid judicial warrant or court order. Nothing in this Chapter restricts criminal law enforcement activities where civil immigration enforcement is not the primary purpose.
2.64.050 No Private Right of Action
This Chapter does not create or form the basis of liability on the part of the City or any City department, agency, official, or employee, nor does it create a private right of action against the City or any City personnel.
2.64.060 Implementation; Enforcement
This Chapter shall not be criminally enforced and shall be implemented through existing administrative policies and procedures governing City operations and the operation of City-owned and City-controlled property and facilities. The City Manager may establish additional rules or regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this Chapter, including consultation with the City Attorney to pursue civil action if appropriate.
Section 3. CEQA
Approval of the Municipal Code additions is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines, section 15061(b)(3), the general exemption for projects with no potential for significant environmental effect. Because this ordinance solely regulates the governmental use of existing City-owned or City-controlled property and does not authorize or require any physical construction, alteration of Ordinance No. 2026-XXX
Immigration Enforcement Property Use Ordinance
facilities, or change in land use, it can be seen with certainty that the ordinance will not result in any direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical environmental impacts.
Section 4. Severability.
If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance, including the application of such part or provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby and shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, provisions of this ordinance are severable.
The City Council of the City of Union City hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase hereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or phrases be held unconstitutional, invalid, or unenforceable.
Section 5. Publication and Effective Date.
Within fifteen (15) days from and after adoption, this ordinance shall be published once in a newspaper of general circulation printed and published in Alameda County and circulated in the City of Union City, in accordance with California Government Code Section 36933. This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after its adoption.
INTRODUCED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Union City on May 12, 2026, and PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Union City on [DATE], 2026, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
APPROVED:
GARY SINGH
Mayor
ATTESTED: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
THAI NAM N. PHAM
City Clerk
KRISTOPHER J. KOKOTAYLO
City Attorney