SAN ANTONIO – State and local lawmakers issued a joint letter pushing against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans for a proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility on the East Side.
Reps. Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Henry Cuellar (TX-28) and Greg Casar (TX-35) — along with San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai and Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert — signed the letter.
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The letter comes after ICE officials confirmed to KSAT the purchase of the roughly 640,000 square-foot East Side warehouse, saying it would be a “very well-structured” detention facility.
The facility has drawn pushback from community members, which largely dominated a District 2 town hall with San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones earlier this month.
“I was very frustrated when we all found out about this ICE facility,” said Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, who is not included on the letter.
You can read the full letter in the embed below.
In the letter, the group said moving forward with a facility of this scale without properly consulting the city or community “wastes taxpayer dollars and undermines public trust.”
The group said neither San Antonio’s congressional delegation nor local government officials were consulted before ICE moved ahead with purchasing the warehouse.
“The lack of transparency and communication around current and proposed ICE activities in San Antonio is unacceptable,” said Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones.
Federal immigration officials have drawn scrutiny following apprehensions in major U.S. cities and the killing of two American citizens in Minnesota earlier this year.
Before the two fatal shootings in Minnesota, a Homeland Security agent shot and killed a San Antonio man in South Padre Island in March 2025. It marks the earliest of at least six deadly shootings by federal officers since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.
In the letter, the group formally requests an in-person meeting with DHS officials as well as “detailed information” on the facility’s scope, projected capacity, staffing and emergency administrative presence.
The letter also requests a formal response from DHS by Feb. 27.
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