Tuesday’s ICE raids in San Antonio appear to have been called off

Though the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) planned Tuesday raids in San Antonio and other cities, the enforcement action appears to have been called off.

At least in the Alamo City.

Tuesday’s San Antonio raid was reported as one of several scheduled in major U.S. cities, something confirmed to Fox News on Friday by Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar.

But, as Tuesday unfolded, San Antonio immigrant-rights activists told the Current they saw none of the chatter or all-points bulletins — the notification system police use — that usually lead up to a raid.

ICE officials didn’t respond to repeated requests for information from the Current, or from elected officials, about Tuesday’s scheduled raids.

“Our office reached out to ICE earlier this week to request more information, but they have not been forthcoming,” a spokeswoman with U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro’s office said via email. “It’s unclear what the administration’s current plans are for immigration raids in San Antonio or elsewhere.”

Homan has stated that ICE is going after “the worst first,” targeting criminals in the country illegally, rather than undocumented people living and working peacefully. However, on Tuesday, President Trump signed an executive order removing a Biden protection preventing ICE raids in “sensitive locations” such as schools and churches.

“That’s not something you do if your main focus is targeting criminals or gang members,” Castro, a San Antonio Democrat, said in an emailed statement. “My office is preparing for scenarios where the most vulnerable people — including seniors and hospital patients — are targeted for deportation.”
Before the scheduled raid, San Antonio activists speculated that it might be called off due to the area’s winter weather. There are also questions about whether ICE actually has the funding to carry out such large-scale national sweeps, when it’s dealing with a $230 million budget shortfall.

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This article appears in Jan 8-21, 2025.