{"id":141966,"date":"2026-01-29T01:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T01:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/141966\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T01:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T01:17:09","slug":"joaquin-castro-jasmine-crockett-demand-halt-to-ice-funding-at-san-antonio-press-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/141966\/","title":{"rendered":"Joaquin Castro, Jasmine Crockett demand halt to ICE funding at San Antonio press conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Credit: Stephanie Koithan<\/p>\n

U.S. Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Joaquin Castro called for the disbanding of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a Wednesday press conference outside San Antonio City Hall.<\/p>\n

The Texas Democrats spoke in front of a crowd of roughly 100 and were joined by 20 other state and local leaders, including Austin U.S. Rep. Greg Casar. Texas State Reps. Gina Hinojosa and Trey Martinez Fischer also spoke at the event.<\/p>\n

Crockett and Castro traveled to the event after receiving a tour of the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, about an hour Southwest of San Antonio. While at the immigrant detention center, Castro met and spoke with 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father Angel Arias, who were detained by ICE in Minneapolis last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis father said that Liam has been depressed, that he hasn\u2019t been eating well,\u201d Castro said. \u201cI told him that we would do anything that we could to get him out of there. I demanded that ICE release him. I told them that most of America wants Liam to be released, and that he should be released immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLiam is not the only young person who has had their life destroyed and turned upside down by Trump\u2019s deportation policies,\u201d San Antonio-Austin U.S. Rep Greg Casar said. \u201cAt Liam\u2019s school alone, at least three other kids have been detained by ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some 1,100 people are currently detained inside the family detention center in Dilley, including many children.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no criminals at Dilley,\u201d Castro added. \u201cNone of those people have committed a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLiam is emblematic of our detention system and ICE operations,\u201d the congressman added. \u201cThere are many kids who are in detention as well, and Jasmine and I met with them and their families. There\u2019s a 2-month-old baby that\u2019s been there for four or five days.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Rep. Hinojosa, who\u2019s running for governor on the Democratic ticket, directed her ire at those who profit from the private prison industrial complex that banked record-breaking profits last year as President Donald Trump ramped up detention of immigrants.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, these private prisons started getting these contracts to hold people taken by ICE,\u201d Hinojosa said. \u201cOne is GEO Group, one is Core Civic. Core Civic is the largest owner of private real estate that the government uses. Their biggest investor is BlackRock, a multinational corporation that\u2019s in the business of maximizing profits for its shareholders. Those profits are, by the way, 100% paid for by the taxpayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Stephanie Koithan<\/p>\n

Castro reserved his most stinging criticism for Trump and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to be an architect of this brutality, then you should have the guts to go to a facility like Dilley and sit face-to-face, eye-to-eye with these kids and tell them why you believe they belong there,\u201d Castro said.<\/p>\n

In their remarks, both Crockett and Castro cited the current appropriations bill that earmarks another $64 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, including $10 billion in additional funding for ICE.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we should disband ICE,\u201d Castro said. \u201cI support the impeachment of [Department of Homeland Security chief] Kristi Noem, and I don\u2019t believe the Senate, the House should give another dime to ICE in this appropriations bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, we won\u2019t fund this nonsense,\u201d Crockett added \u201cWe both voted \u2018no\u2019 on that bill. We are asking our colleagues in the Senate to do their part.\u201d<\/p>\n

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