As tensions rise amid a federal crackdown on immigration and massively expanded deportation efforts, all eyes have been on major cities like Minneapolis, where a large-scale deployment has created a volatile situation condemned by local leaders.
Unconfirmed claims on activist pages and social media suggest a similar future for San Antonio, overlooking the continued heavy presence of Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the city since President Donald Trump’s administration launched mass deportation and detention efforts after his inauguration last January.
San Antonio is also home to a federal courthouse that handles federal immigration cases. Further, San Antonio’s Southside is flanked by ICE detention and processing centers from Dilley (in Frio County) to Karnes City.
There is, however, no warning from official sources saying there is an increased ICE presence in San Antonio. In fact, there’s evidence to suggest there’s been a heavy presence in San Antonio long before the harrowing scenes in Minneapolis began surfacing.
Almost daily, worried community members are alerting San Antonio residents about the presence of ICE on every side of town following raids and roundups. From a nighttime raid for a drug bust at 5939 San Pedro Ave. to a tense detainment in the parking lot of a TV news station, ICE’s presence has been felt.
Allies of immigrants taking sanctuary at Austin churches, which include a coalition of 25 church congregations and social justice groups walk toward the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations office on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. The grouped traveled via caravan to San Antonio to rally in front of ICE San Antonio field office in support of Biden’s executive order reversing Trump’s zero tolerance policy of rejecting stays of removal. In particular, the group, Austin Sanctuary Network, was rallying for Guatemalan refugee Hilda Ramirez and her son Ivan and El Salvadoran Alirio Gamez so that they may finally leave the churches’ grounds to walk without fear. Their attempt to get clarification of new presidential executive orders regarding immigration and the turning over signatures to plead for the immigrant’s cases to be reviewed were denied by ICE officials. Supporters remained hopeful that something would be done for all refugees and immigrants in similar situations. (Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer)
As early as January of 2025, ICE agents were spotted lingering outside a San Antonio Independent School District campus, triggering responses from district officials and teachers’ unions across the city.
Officials told MySA at the time that families were afraid to bring their students to school or enter the pickup line. They added that concerns extend beyond campus, with ongoing questions about how ICE detentions affect students’ support systems and education.
“I never thought when I became a teacher-this is my 38th year in education-that I would have to become an expert on immigration and immigration law. As well as other things, it’s just unbelievable what is being put to school districts,” San Antonio ISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino said during a San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board meeting in early February 2025.
In May of last year, a video of three children zip-tied in San Antonio Immigration Court, at 800 Dolorosa St., further fueled outrage. A judge had dismissed a case against two adults, seemingly the parents of the two boys and girl between the ages of 9 and 12, which should’ve voided their removal proceedings, an attorney told MySA at the time.
The Trump policy has led on a charge of removing violent criminals in the U.S. without legal status, but it’s been nearly impossible to verify whether that’s been done in practice – though time and time again folks connected to ICE incidents’ say it’s not what’s happening.
Law enforcement officials have confirmed about 140 people were detained in the ICE raid on San Pedro in November. In the days and weeks that followed – after addressing a legally questionable warrant giving officers access to raid the facility – it was stated about a third of those detained were “confirmed” Tren de Aragua gang members. Even fewer of the detainees, only 25, were found to have a criminal record; however, it remains unclear whether these records pertained to violent or serious offenses.
A Homeland Security Task Force was also formed and based in the Alamo City. It’s a collaboration between the FBI San Antonio and the Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Field Office, which has taken credit for numerous raids, arrests, detentions and investigations, including the San Pedro raid.
There’s also policing crossovers with ICE, DHS and local municipalities. Since September, Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott have been pushing for agreements allowing federal agents to train and hand over some level of federal immigration enforcement power to local agencies, deemed 287(g) agreements.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office has entered a very limited version of this agreement, allowing jail officers to transfer custody to immigration detention agents. Though, some San Antonio-area municipalities have asked for more training and power to participate in these efforts. A federal record shows Balcones Heights, an incorporated city within the San Antonio city limits on the Near Northwest Side, inked an agreement on January 7 asking for a task force model to work alongside ICE.
It’s a similar story with the Bexar County Constable in Precinct 3, which covers a huge swath of the Northern quadrant of Bexar County. Essentially, the constable’s office gets up to $300,000 released to the county for each arrest made for an “ICE wanted individual,” according to the constable’s website.
“We would notify ICE of any arrest of a subject wanted by ICE on a felony or other crime presently a threat to our community,” an administrator of the constable’s office wrote.
These are just three examples of the 265 ICE agreements penned by law enforcement agencies across Texas, mostly in the past year, making up more than 20% of all 287(g) agreements signed across the entire country.
Abbott is now citing unverified Fox News claims that ICE agents face “constant impediments” or “attacks,” pointing to a video the outlet says shows a vehicle ramming agents in a Walmart parking lot-details about the location, timing, and those involved remain unverified.
This article originally published at Is ICE ramping up operations in San Antonio? Here’s what we know.