AAPI Caucus Sharp Park Visit

Sharp Park Detention Center: How Sharp Park’s Hidden History Can Help Us Understand Detention Centers in Today’s Political Climate

Join ALF Silicon Valley’s AAPI Caucus on Sunday, November 16, to gain perspective and insight that will deepen your understanding of important local historical events and be part of a meaningful discussion on why the Sharp Park Detention Center should not be forgotten and how best to memorialize this historic site.

The program will include presentations by local historians/genealogists who will share family stories and historical data about what happened at the Sharp Park Detention Center. The day will start with a check-in at the Pacifica home of ALF Senior Fellow Fr. Jon Pedigo (Class XXIX), followed by a program and lunch at the Sharp Park Restaurant. Following the program, attendees are invited to visit the SPDC site a short distance away.

THE DEADLINE FOR REGISTER IS OCTOBER 31, 2025. THE ALF AAPI CAUCUS WELCOMES PARTNERS, SPOUSES, AND PERSONAL GUESTS. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR ALL ATTENDEES.

Event Info
DATE: NOV 16, 2025
TIME: 10:00 AM – 2:30 PM (see detailed program below)
LOCATION: PACIFICA, CA
COST: $35

The AAPI Caucus is requesting $35 per attendee to help defray a portion of the costs of this program and associated activities.

Program
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM: ALF Senior Fellow Check-in (Home of Fr. Jon Pedigo, Pacifica, CA)
11:30 AM – 2:00 PM: Lunch & overview of SPDC (Sharp Park Restaurant)
2:00 PM – 2:30PM: Sharp Park Detention Center visit (less than 1.5 mi from restaurant)

Sharp Park Detention Camp – Pacifica Historical Society

Background
Detention centers aren’t just facilities—they are at the center of debates about immigration, civil rights, and democracy itself. In a time when policies involving detention centers are dramatically shifting in what many consider troubling ways, understanding what they mean for communities, families, and the future of Constitutional rights and protections is essential.

The Sharp Park Detention Center in Pacifica, California (the “SPDC”), is a little-known World War II “enemy alien” internment camp, active from early 1942 to 1946, and located on land owned by San Francisco across from one of this country’s most famous municipal golf courses. While the SPDC played a critical role in the massive incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII, it also served as a detention center for people of Italian and German descent—mostly first-generation immigrants labeled as “enemy aliens.” While very little of the detention facility physically exists today, what happened in Pacifica provides a lens to examine this country’s discriminatory treatment of communities during wartime conditions.