ICE agents are shown gathering outside the federal agency’s Northeast San Antonio field office Sunday morning in a now-deleted post from the Autonomous Brown Berets in San Antonio. Credit: Instagram / @autonomousbrownberets_san_anto

Between 25 and 30 government vehicles, some unmarked, gathered Sunday morning at San Antonio’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement office before driving off to locations throughout the city, immigrant-rights activists report.

The deployment appears to the first large-scale action at ICE’s San Antonio office since the Wall Street Journal reported more than a week ago that the Trump administration planned deportation raids in San Antonio and in other large U.S. cities shortly after the inauguration.

“As of now, there have been individual vehicles departing from [ICE’s 3523 Crosspoint Drive field office], not multiple vans indicative of a mass raid,” an organizer with an immigrant-rights group told the Current Sunday on condition of anonymity.

The person asked not to be named to protect their ability to continue assisting at-risk immigrants. They said their group also observed two San Antonio Police Department vehicles pulling into the ICE office parking lot — an occurrence they described as “unusual.”

A San Antonio ICE spokesperson didn’t respond to the Current‘s inquiry about Sunday’s activity at the field office. 

However, in a statement provided to the Texas Tribune, an ICE spokesperson said the agency cooperated with the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on “enhanced targeted operations” in both San Antonio and Austin.” The official didn’t specify whether agents detailed anyone or who they targeted.

Separately, Homeland Security’s San Antonio office tweeted a Sunday evening statement that it worked with organizations including the Alamo City ICE operation and Customs and Border Protection to “enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities.”

Three photos attached to the tweet appear to show federal agents standing inside a compound near a fleet of official vehicles. The message included no specifics on the enforcement actions or whether they resulted in any detentions.

ICE’s vehicles left from the San Antonio office for locations throughout the city, according to the anonymous organizer who spoke to the Current. However, at press time the person hadn’t provided details about where agents ultimately ended up.

The activity occurred the same day Gov. Greg Abbott — a Trump ally who’s built his political brand on anti-immigration rhetoric — tweeted that Texas Department of Public Safety personnel would “assist President Trump’s Homeland Security Investigations” in targeting and deporting undocumented migrants.

“These DPS operations are expected to expand in the coming days,” the Republican governor said. 

Activist group Autonomous Brown Berets in San Antonio alerted the community to the deployment in a series of Spanish-language Instagram posts shared Sunday.

The group’s account also posted photos allegedly showing some of the ICE agents, the vehicles and their license plates. However, those have since been deleted from its Instagram account.

“We have observed heavier migra mobilization today,” the Autonomous Brown Berets said in a subsequent post. 

“For transparency, we have an important announcement,” the organization continued. “As per a request to not share resources from a certain organization; we have removed the last post. This alert is to let our people know that ice/migra activity is currently ramping up compared to previous days. Remain vigilant to any unmarked cars in the Wurzbach area.”

Throughout the week, immigrant-rights activists have posted tips on social media about ICE vehicles and unmarked, mostly white vehicles that they say appear to be scouting locations around San Antonio.

However, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office told News4SA on Saturday that ICE hadn’t asked any of its personnel to participate in raids.

“We have not been asked to participate. We have not been asked to attend any meetings,” Sheriff Javier Salazar told the TV station. “We’ve heard that Bexar County is on some sort of a list for raids, but I have not seen anything official that that may happen. I can tell you the sheriff’s office has not been asked to participate in any raids.”

This is a developing story, which the Current will update as it learns more.

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This article appears in Jan 22 – Feb 4, 2025.

Stephanie Koithan is the Digital Content Editor of the San Antonio Current. In her role, she writes about politics, music, art, culture and food. Send her a tip at skoithan@sacurrent.com.