SAN ANTONIO – City Council clamped down on private detention facilities Thursday with new rules on where they can be located.
New facilities will now be required to have industrial zoning, get a specific use authorization from the city council, and be at least 1,000 feet away from schools, public parks, churches, and residential areas.
The changes, passed in a 9-2 vote, were prompted by the federal government’s acquisition of an East Side warehouse, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly wants to use as a detention facility.
While the city’s new restrictions don’t appear likely to apply to the planned ICE facility, a member of the city‘s legal staff left the possibility open during exclusive interviews with KSAT, saying it’s not a completely black-and-white issue.
The warehouse at 542 SE Loop 410 is owned by federal government, which does not have to follow local zoning rules.
Deputy City Attorney Susan Guinn said the changes will not have any effect on ICE’s plans for the East Side property “at this point, with the current facts.”
However, the head of the regulatory division was less definitive when KSAT asked what would happen if the government were to bring in a private contractor to operate the facility.
“That is something we definitely would be looking at,” Guinn said, “who then has control of the facility?”
Guinn stressed it would be “fact-specific,” though, and the city doesn’t have the details.
“We would just be speculating right now,” Guinn said, “So I’m not going to close that off either way.”
Guinn said the newly adopted ordinance might not impact ICE because the government made the plans known, though it has not notified the city directly.
The changes also include new requirements for detention facilities to notify city officials 30 days ahead of renovating, building, or operating a detention facility.
Guinn said no matter who ends up running the East Side facility, they would still have to notify the city of these changes moving forward.
Posturing or preparation?
The council’s two conservative members, Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) and Councilwoman Misty Spears (D9), were the only votes against the new restrictions.
Whyte, who pulled the item for discussion, also asked city legal staff to confirm the ordinance wouldn’t have any effect on the planned ICE facility.
“As we understand it, councilman, that’s correct,” First Assistant City Attorney Liz Provencio told him.
City staff also told Whyte they were unaware of any private detention facilities currently operating in the city.
“This new ordinance here doesn’t do anything,” Whyte told his colleagues. “This is a political statement that you want to make.”
District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said many detained immigrants are held in privately operated facilities, “and ICE often turns to (a) privately operated facility when their own facilities exceed capacity.”
McKee-Rodriguez said that he believes this might happen because the warehouse “will not have the sewage capacity that they’re looking for."
“It would be foolish to think that just because there aren’t any facilities now,” McKee-Rodriguez said, “that there won’t be in the future.”
KSAT asked ICE questions Thursday afternoon about its timeline, plans, who would operate the facility and whether it would hire contractors to open or run other facilities. We have not yet heard back on that request.
KSAT has been following through on potential detention facilities in San Antonio. Read more of our reporting below: