San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, center, listens to concerned citizens during public comment on Wednesday. Credit: Michael Karlis

San Antonio City Council will meet in executive session Thursday to discuss possible actions the city can take to shut down plans for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center on the East Side, Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said in a Wednesday Instagram video.

“Some actions will not be able to be done locally, because federal law overrides city authority,” said McKee-Rodriguez, whose District 2 includes the proposed lockup site. “Some things can be done, but they are going to require discretion, and some will require pressure at higher levels of government. That’s not to dismiss hope, it’s to be real with you.”

McKee-Rodriguez posted the clip, shortly after a tense Wednesday-evening public comment session in council chambers. Around three dozen people — all of those signed up to speak — railed against Atlanta-based Okamont Industrial Group’s reported sale of a 640,000-square-foot warehouse to ICE.

Although a sale price hasn’t been publicly disclosed, the warehouse was appraised at $37 million this year, according to public records.

“This project directly impacts the safety, health and dignity of San Antonio residents, and leadership has a responsibility to act,” resident Isabel Herrera told council during the public-comment session.

Commenter Giovanna Romero blasted ICE itself as a public safety threat. The agency’s aggressive immigration crackdown in Minnesota, including agents fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, have led to widespread public condemnation.

“This is not a law enforcement agency accountable to the public. It is a weapon,” Romero said. “These aren’t isolated incidents. They reveal the character of the regime, an identity of untrained, militarized cronies operating with lessons to lie, to disappear and to kill.”

Before comments got underway, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones told those in the chamber that Texas laws restrict the city’s options. However, she emphasized that she and the rest of council are committed to navigating the issue with transparency and “balancing public trust and public safety.”

“We are working actively with the city attorney to review options that we may have as it relates to the detention facility, as it relates to other policies as well that are, frankly, in line with our values as a community,” Jones said. “So, we look forward to sharing those.”

Under Texas state law, council members can’t respond directly to citizen concerns during public comment sessions.

However, conservative District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte — the target of much ire during Wednesday’s comment session — said during a Wednesday morning appearance on WOAI 1200 talk radio said there’s not much the city can do to stop the detention center.

“Look, this was a private property sale,” Whyte said. “The property owner is allowed to sell his or her property to whoever they want, and if the federal government did indeed buy the property, then they’re allowed to do what they want with it.”

Whyte also said he worries the city could lose federal funding if it takes legal action to halt ICE’s plans for the warehouse.

“To the extent that we want to fight this or block it or tie it up in court or whatever it may be, the federal government will see that — and we do risk losing some very, very important funding that our people here rely on,” Whyte said.

Even so, San Antonio is already bracing for deep cuts in federal funding as Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress hack away at programs. The city receives some $150 million in federal dollars annually. Federal cuts, along with a looming $100 million-plus budget deficit in 2027, may leave the city dangerously strapped for cash, the mayor has previously cautioned.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...