Protesters carry a banner during a demonstration last month against the recent multi-agency raid. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Martha Spinks
Fifty San Antonio Police Department officers helped undertake a controversial federal immigration raid that detained 140 people last month at what authorities maintain was an after-hours nightclub, the Express-News reports.
The officers provided “perimeter security and traffic containment,” Lt. David Bacarreza, a deputy chief of staff, said in the story, the first to clarify SAPD’s involvement in the raid. He added that the department responds to federal agencies’ requests for perimeter security but doesn’t “directly assist” with immigration roundups.
The Nov. 16 raid, carried out near San Padro Avenue and Basse Road by a new Homeland Security Task Force, have drawn the ire of immigrant-rights activists and Democratic lawmakers. Critics argue the feds have failed to be transparent about the raid and haven’t revealed vital details, including the names of most of those detained and where they’re being held.
The task force — made up of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and FBI personnel — has issued statements alleging 27 people arrested that night have ties to Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. However, the agencies have failed to respond to multiple requests for information corroborating that claim.
What’s more, previous claims of Tren de Aragua ties made by Trump White House Homeland Security officials have failed to hold up to the scrutiny of press investigations. Three weeks following the raid, just two people face criminal charges.
Under a 2017 Texas law, local police departments and county sheriffs must cooperate with federal officials during immigration-enforcement actions.
Even so, Corrie Rosen of the San Antonio chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, demanded more answers about SAPD’s involvement during the public input portion of Wednesday’s City Council meeting, according to the Express-News.
“Who decided that our very city resources, funded by the very people targeted, should be weaponized against them, and who will be held responsible for the harm inflicted?” Rosen said.
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Federal authorities offered no proof for the claim, and have so far failed to respond to local leaders’ calls for more information about the raid.
The feds still have yet to release information on most of the 150 partygoers arrested on San Antonio’s North Side last weekend.
In a statement, the government also trumpeted the creation of a new Alamo City-based task force dubbed HSTF-South Texas.