San Antonio City Council voted 9-2 on Thursday in favor of a proposal exploring ways to combat ICE. Credit: Michael Karlis

During a tense City Council meeting Thursday, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones urged residents angry about plans by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to open an East Side detention facility to vote in the upcoming primaries and midterms.

“Make sure you know where those county officials, those state representatives and those federal representatives seeking your vote are on these issues,” Jones said following a public-comment session. “Are they okay with using state laws to silence students exercising their First Amendment Rights? Are you okay with a federal representative that thinks a detention center is a jobs opportunity? Please make sure you vote wisely and make sure you encourage all your friends and family to do so.”

The mayor’s comments came after council voted 9-2 to adopt a resolution calling for the city to evaluate what actions it can take to prevent, or at least hamper, ICE’s activities here, including the agency’s planned East Side lockup. District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez spearheaded the proposal.

District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte and District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears, the two right-wing representatives on the dais, voted against the measure.

“What’s being proposed here — blocking permits, denying utilities, penalizing local business owners, violating private property rights or otherwise trying to obstruct a federal detention facility is not only misguided, it is legally futile,” Spears asserted.

Spears then railed against the Biden administration for allowing mass migration before rattling off a list of U.S. citizens allegedly killed by undocumented migrants.

ICE earlier this month purchased a 640,000-square-foot warehouse at 542 S.E. Loop 410 from Atlanta-based Oakmont Industrial Group. The agency, which is charged with carrying out President Donald Trump’s increasingly aggressive deportation agenda, spent $66 million on the purchase. However, the structure will need upgrades before it can be used as a detention site.

“My office and city staff have yet to receive any formal notification about that facility or proposed activities there,” Jones said.

In response to resolution, the City Attorney’s Office proactively compiled a list of 26 actions based on recommendations made by council members that could be used to push back at ICE’s activities here.

Assistant City Attorney Liz Provencio said the city had already completed one of those tasks: compiling an economic report on the contributions of migrants to San Antonio. Staffers also are actively working on three others, including offering legal referrals for migrants living here lawfully, “know your rights” training by third parties and training for city staff on how to respond to ICE personnel.

Provencio added that the city is working to collect data on immigration enforcement operations in San Antonio so staffers can log alleged constitutional rights violations committed by ICE locally. They are also tracking the agency’s assistance requests made to SAPD.​

“I think actually this is the most important,” District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur said. “I think folks don’t know what’s going on, and we have to be able to show this, which I know is tricky.”

SAPD currently gathers information on complaints made local residents about alleged civil-rights violations. However, Jones cautioned that some members of the public might be hesitant to report abuses to San Antonio police since the department is forced under state law to engage in certain levels of cooperation with ICE.

“My concern is that when you’re reporting allegations of constitutional violations, reporting it to SAPD may, in fact, be a deterrent,” Jones said. “Folks might not feel comfortable if that is the entity to which they report it.”

Jones asked Provencio to explore other ways the city can log those complaints.

“Documenting those concerns will be vital in the case and instance that we do have a reckoning with some of these unconstitutional, inhumane practices that are occurring across this country, and that data matters,” District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo said.

However, Provencio discouraged council from pursuing four other proposals for combating ICE. Those include offering legal referrals to people not legally in the U.S., setting up a justice fund for undocumented migrants, SAPD informing people in custody of their legal right to not to answer questions about their legal status and trying to ban federal law enforcement from wearing masks while operating here.

Those suggestions could violate Texas Senate Bill 4, a state anti-Sanctuary City law, which the city already spent nearly $3 million fighting under former Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

Meanwhile, staff will continue evaluating the legality of the remaining 15 proposals, which also include setting up billboards informing people of their rights and changing city contracting rules to shut out vendors who do business with ICE.

City Manager Erik Walsh said he’ll keep council informed on the progress of the proposals over coming weeks.

Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed

​

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,...