A man speaks out against a jailed data center at an Imperial County board meeting as tensions flare across the country

A national dispute surrounding high-tech data centers, and the impact on energy and water supplies, has turned into a police issue near the US-Mexico border.

A man speaking out against the proposed data center said he was removed and arrested at an Imperial County Board of Supervisors meeting this week over a job-related vote.

Ismael Arvizu, 26, said he was charged with trespassing, disturbing the peace, resisting arrest and threatening a government official.

“The fact that this happened shows the extremes they are reaching to keep our voices suppressed,” Arvizu told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.

Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing wants to develop a 950,000-square-foot facility in the region that would be among the largest data centers in California. The county has exempted the project from environmental review — a sticking point for many residents concerned about health and environmental impacts.

Debate over the plan has grown in intensity, and Tuesday’s board meeting drew a large crowd. During public comment, resident Ramon Chavoya expressed frustration with the county and Board Chair Peggy Price for allowing the project to proceed.

“Peggy Price, we have it here to remember you,” said Chavoya, holding up the paper. “Count your days.”

After Chavoya’s statement, Arvizu said he was happy and applauded, which can be heard in the recorded video of the board meeting. Arvizu said the law enforcement officer then forced him to leave the meeting without giving an explanation. He was arrested outside the rooms.

Clinton Erro, public information officer for the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office, said the case has been forwarded to the district attorney’s office for review.

Arvizu earlier during the meeting told the board members that he is not in favor of the consolidation of the data center lots because the project will benefit billions at the expense of local residents.

“In this era of unchecked corporate projects, communities of color have been at the forefront of organizing to defend themselves because no one else will,” Arvizu said, speaking loudly into the microphone.

Price asked Arvizu to keep his voice down.

“I want to shout,” said Arvizu, who spoke for the remainder of his three-minute session before sitting down. “Surely you thought you would pass this project without the public fighting?”

Arvizu told The Times that an officer at the jail said he was arrested for threatening Price, which he denied.

Imperial County board members did not respond to a request for comment.

Christopher Scurries, the lead organizer of Not In My Backyard Imperial – a community organization formed to oppose the data center – said he joined with others to collect a $5,000 bond to get Arvizu out of jail.

Scurries said that the meeting was full of police. Many other residents were forced to leave but were not arrested, he said.

The board this week finally approved the consolidation of lots by a vote of 4-1, which includes several parcels of land at the corner of Clark and Aten streets where the proposed center will be built.

Public meetings about data centers across the country are increasingly chaotic and contentious, with reports of police dragging residents outside and council members being threatened. Some developers put plans on hold or exited projects during the backlash.

A city in Missouri recently fired all of its council members who supported a data center project in favor of those who opposed it.

An Indianapolis council member said bullets were fired at her home, along with a “No Data Centers” sign left under a doormat, this month after she supported a data center project.

Earlier this year, a farmer who opposed the proposal in Oklahoma was arrested for suppressing a tresspass after he spoke for more than three minutes during public comment at a council meeting. Three women were arrested again in Wisconsin after refusing to leave a meeting and chanting “remember” to council members who support tech giants OpenAI and Oracle.

Data centers have been around for decades but are rapidly changing and expanding due to the rise of artificial intelligence around the world. Utilities can generate significant revenue for local governments through sales and property taxes, but they also require large amounts of water and energy.

During an interview with Mathias Döpfner at the World Economic Forum meeting earlier this year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warned that society could turn against AI because of the natural resources it uses – unless technology companies demonstrate that they will improve societies.

“At the end of the day, I think this industry that I belong to needs to get the public’s permission to use energy,” he said. “It needs to result in economic growth that is more widespread in the economy.”