SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio City Council could soon change city code related to detention facilities and even try to put a temporary halt to new private detention facilities.
But council members and city staff alike have been clear those efforts would not affect the detention facility at the center of the conversation: a roughly 640,000 square-foot warehouse recently acquired by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the East Side.
So why pursue them?
The warehouse at 542 Southeast Loop 410 was bought for more than $66 million by the U.S. government, and ICE reportedly has plans to use it as a “processing center” with up to 1,500 beds.
The plans have drawn vocal objections from both residents and local officials. There appears to be little the city can do directly, though, as the city says the federal government isn’t bound by local zoning and permitting processes.
On Thursday, the city council passed a resolution 8-2 asking city staff to bring them proposed code and policy changes related to detention facilities and to initiate the process for council to consider a moratorium on such facilities.
Councilwoman Misty Spears (D9) and Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) voted against the resolution. Councilman Ric Galvan (D6) was not at Thursday’s meeting.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones made sure to clarify with City Attorney Andy Segovia that the resolution, which did not initially include a moratorium, only covered municipal or privately run detention facilities.
"I just want to manage people’s expectations about what we’re actually able to do and doing here," she said.
The code changes, which could be up for council approval as soon as April, could include a new zoning category, requiring a specific use authorization, or prohibiting them within a certain distance of “incompatible” land uses, like parks.
A moratorium, staff said, would take longer to put into place, and can only last for up to 180 days. It would also require council approval.
Deputy City Attorney Susan Guinn told reporters that neither zoning nor the moratorium would affect the East Side ICE facility.
Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), who represents the area around the warehouse, pushed to pursue both code updates and a moratorium simultaneously.
Asked about pursuing regulation that wouldn’t affect the planned “processing center,” the councilman said he believes ICE is looking to detain “way more” than 1,500 people.
“And it is likely that they’ll look at leasing or finding other private owners to pop up detention centers and expand the presence of these types of facilities regardless of whether it’s a federal government or it’s a private entity,” he said.
City staff said they were not aware of any privately owned or privately run detention facilities.
Still, McKee-Rodriguez told reporters, “If we can play a preventative role in any future issues, we’re going to do that.”
“So we may not be able to take every step that we want to, but the steps that we can, we’re going to."
City staff said they are still looking into other steps that might have an effect on the use of the warehouse.
They are in discussions with a national law firm about “whether facilities and activities comply with applicable federal laws including environmental law.”
Whether to lobby for federal legislation and action to prevent the use of the facility is also under evaluation.
McKee-Rodriguez and other council members urged opponents to the facility to contact members of Congress.
“They are actively promoting and accepting the creation of these facilities. And then they’re pushing the blame onto us, redirecting you all to us, knowing we can’t stop them. And it’s preventing them from feeling any of this pressure,” McKee-Rodriguez said.
The council’s two conservative members, Whyte and Spears, questioned how much effect changing city code would actually have.
“A lot of staff time, council time, council staff time, taxpayer money spent on this ... just, I guess, to make some sort of statement,” Whyte said.
KSAT emailed ICE for comment but did not hear back before publication.