Facing a $158 million deficit earlier this month, a majority of San Antonio’s city council voted to raise your taxes rather than cut more programs.
This week’s Waste Watch reveals one of the controversial programs they kept provides legal services for undocumented immigrants.
Some council members told the News 4 I-Team funding the program is part of a strategy to fight back against federal immigration enforcement and the ICE processing center that will soon open in San Antonio.
The city’s budget includes $50 thousand for a group called American Gateways, which received $150 thousand from the city the previous year.
We asked District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran what the organization does.
“American Gateways provides the legal representation that our immigrants need when they’re facing immigration courts and challenges,” Viagran said.
Earlier this year, the Texas Attorney General sued Bexar County for awarding taxpayer funds to the same organization.
Councilmember Marc Whyte, who voted against the tax increase, argues legal services for immigrants are not a priority for taxpayers.
“That’s not what they pay their tax dollars for, they pay them to be safe, right? Public safety, they pay for infrastructure solutions, not for people to have lawyers,” Whyte said.
In a written statement the city told the I-Team: “In FY 2026, the City of San Antonio issued a request for proposals for its human and homeless services and strategy consolidated funding process, which provides funding for delegate agencies that support city operated programs and complement city services in children & youth success, strengthening families, senior independence, and ending homelessness.”
“In May 2026, city council awarded 16 – month contracts to selected agencies pending FY 2027 budget adoption. Through this competitive process, American Gateways was recommended funding to provide immigration legal education and services to low-income San Antonio residents. The FY 2027 City of San Antonio budget includes $50,000 awarded to American Gateways.”
“Funding for American Gateways does not provide direct legal representation. FY 2028 delegate agency funding has not yet been allocated or awarded.”
Councilmember Phyllis Viagran says the city has given money to American Gateways for years.
News 4 I-Team Reporter Jaie Avila asked Viagran, “Is this one of the programs you could have cut instead of raising the tax rate?”
“No, I don’t think this is one of the programs we could have cut. I don’t think we should have cut any programs, that’s why I voted to raise the taxes,” Viagran said.
Councilmember Marina Alderete Gavito did not vote for the tax increase, but she supports the American Gateways contract.
She says immigration legal services will be more important when the 1,500 bed ICE processing center opens next spring.
“With the facility opening, we’re only going to see more and more of these cases happen, and so the way that we can protect people is through legal rights and so that’s what American Gateways provides,” Gavito said.
American Gateways did not want to comment for this story.
The Texas Attorney General was unsuccessful in trying to stop Bexar County’s funding for American Gateways. But the county, facing its own deficit, did not include the program in its latest budget.