SAN ANTONIO – Neighbors are concerned about potential plans for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to purchase an East Side warehouse.
ICE is considering an acquisition of Oakmont 410, a source familiar with the matter told the San Antonio Business Journal.
The warehouse, located at 542 SE Loop 410, was built in 2022 and touted as San Antonio’s largest industrial complex.
People who live near the warehouse, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told KSAT 12 they would feel “defeated” if the purchase goes through.
“I don’t want to be outside, and my kids be outside, and we see someone get taken,” one neighbor said. “That would be really scary.”
The warehouse is not far from Sam Houston High School, and some fear the impact it could have on the community.
“It’s probably going to make some families pull their children out of schools,” a second neighbor told KSAT 12. “It’s just going to make this area more tense and nervous then it was before. That’s not a way to live.”
State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, D-San Antonio, told KSAT 12 she’s using every process available to prevent the deal from going through.
“I know that it’s really a slap in the face to bring a detention center to house immigrants when our community has a lot of diversity in it,” Gervin-Hawkins said, “and it’s really throwing it right in our face. It’s wrong.”
The City of San Antonio said it has not been notified about a potential facility, in response to a request for comment from KSAT 12. The city also said it has no zoning authority over the federal government.
“You almost feel defeated because a lot of this is backed by federal funding and this being a red state, you pretty much do not have a lot of say,” the second neighbor said. “We can protest, but we’re almost outnumbered.”
The source told the Business Journal that ICE is closing the purchase of the building this week.
KSAT 12 requested a comment from ICE and the Bexar County Republican Party on Saturday morning.
A statement from ICE can be read in its entirety below:
ICE purchased land and facilities in Surprise, AZ, Hagerstown, MD, and El Paso, TX. These will not be warehouses — they will be very well structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards. Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe. It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and is actively working to expand detention space.
ICE is targeting vicious criminals including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members and more. 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S. Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE has new funding to expand detention space to keep these criminals off American streets before they are removed for good from our communities.
An ICE spokesperson
James McCandless of the San Antonio Business Journal contributed to this report. Read his reporting here.
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