SAN ANTONIO – With the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and a planned detention facility on the East Side drawing vocal opposition from some, San Antonio City Council members have been scrambling to find ways to take action.
But it’s still not clear how much they can actually do.
Between discussion at a rowdy January council meeting and a memo filed last week, council members have asked city staff to look into numerous options for getting involved in immigration issues.
The possibilities range from “know your rights” training, to logging alleged civil rights violations related to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, to public signage informing people of their rights or lobbying for federal action to prevent the use of any facility in San Antonio.
In a run-through of the various possible actions on Thursday, First Assistant City Attorney Liz Provencio listed most as needing further evaluation. She also said the city would not be able to prevent immigration enforcement in San Antonio.
Still, the council voted 9-2 on a resolution for city staff to look into many of the specific items.
“The purpose of this memo was to ensure that we’re really turning over every possible stone and looking at every possible action that we can take as a city, as well as to inventory those things that we’re already exploring and actively working to implement,” said Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), one of the four council members who prompted the resolution.
Whether there are many possibilities under those stones is unclear.
“‘Evaluate’ is a nice way of saying we’re probably not going to be able to do some of this stuff, but we’re going to need to run down all the options,” City Manager Erik Walsh told KSAT after the meeting.
The more than hour’s worth of public comment, though, showed some residents want the city to take action.
“It’s important to fight back because it’s obvious the federal government doesn’t care about its people,” Jessica Solis told council members.
The city has already taken, or is planning to take, some steps, such as training for city staff on response protocols when ICE enters a city facility.
But Provencio also singled out possible actions staff don’t recommend taking because of the risk of losing grant funding or running afoul of state law, like having San Antonio police officers instruct detained or arrested people that they don’t need to respond to an officer’s question about their immigration status.
Provencio said the fact the city settled a pair of lawsuits over the state’s 2017 “sanctuary cities” bill, SB 4, opens it up to additional scrutiny regarding SAPD’s general manual.
City Attorney Andy Segovia also indicated it would not be an option for the city-owned utilities, CPS Energy and the San Antonio Water System, to deny power or water service to the roughly 640,000 square-foot warehouse ICE bought on Southeast Loop 410 for apparent use as a detention facility.
The council’s two conservative members, Councilwoman Misty Spears (D9) and Councilman Marc Whyte (D10), voted against the resolution.
“We do not control federal law enforcement, and pretending otherwise misleads the public,” Spears said.
McKee-Rodriguez urged residents to contact their senators and congressional members and pressure them to act.
“City Council is very low-hanging fruit, if we’re being honest, so please use the power that y’all have and cut the head off the snake — in a metaphorical sense,” he said.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones wrote a letter to the city’s federal delegation on Wednesday asking them not to fund the ICE facility.
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