Massive New ICE Detention Site Near San Antonio

Federal officials plan to open an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center on San Antonio’s East Side by Sept. 30 in a warehouse at 542 S.E. Loop 410. (sacurrent.com) The Department of Homeland Security bought the roughly 640,000-square-foot building for more than $66 million, according to Bexar County property records cited by local news outlets. ICE told local officials the site is expected to hold between 500 and 1,500 people at a time. (ksat.com; expressnews.com) City leaders say they were not given early notice before the federal purchase. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones wrote again on April 9 asking Department of Homeland Security leaders to halt the plan and meet with local officials. (kens5.com) San Antonio City Council responded first on March 5, voting 8-2 to study a moratorium and zoning changes for detention facilities after weeks of protests and public comment. City attorneys told council the federal government cannot be directly blocked by local zoning because of federal supremacy. (tpr.org) Council then voted 9-2 on April 17 to require new detention facilities to have industrial zoning, city approval and a 1,000-foot buffer from schools, parks, churches and homes. City lawyers said those rules probably do not stop the East Side ICE project because the property is federally owned, though they left open questions if a private contractor runs it. (ksat.com) Bexar County commissioners joined the pushback in March with a resolution opposing the project and calling on ICE to protect detainees’ health, safety, due process and access to counsel. The resolution cited prior disease outbreaks and poor conditions in detention facilities as local public-health concerns. (tpr.org) Opponents have focused on the East Side location, saying the project would place a large detention operation in a historically disinvested part of San Antonio near homes, schools and parks. MySA reported in February that the proposed site sits across Loop 410 from Essence Preparatory Public School. (mysanantonio.com) Supporters and federal officials have argued the added space is needed as the Trump administration expands detention capacity. In a statement to local television, ICE said it was targeting “vicious criminals” and had new funding to add detention beds. (news4sanantonio.com) The immediate fight is no longer over whether the warehouse was bought. It is over whether San Antonio can force more disclosure before the first detainees arrive this fall. (ksat.com; kens5.com)