SAN ANTONIO \u2013 UPDATE 10:30 A.M.: The City of San Antonio has filed a lawsuit over the immigration detention facility on the East Side. <\/p>\n
In a news conference Tuesday, City Attorney Andy Segovia said the lawsuit was filed in federal court against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
Watch the full press conference below: <\/p>\n
A majority of the San Antonio City Council has been critical of the planned 1,500-person processing facility, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has said<\/a> could open early next year.<\/p>\n Segovia said the suit is to ensure compliance by DHS with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA. <\/p>\n Segovia said the city is requesting the federal court to do the following: <\/p>\n Vacate the purchase of the facility<\/p>\n Vacate the contract that they have issued to start the work in converting the warehouse into a detention facility <\/p>\n Halt all activity until DHS and ICE have fully complied with the requirements of NEPA<\/p>\n The city will also seek a temporary injunction to pause the project. If there are visible signs that work has started at the site, the city will request an emergency hearing to stop it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been very patient with the federal authorities, in particular DHS and ICE on this issue,\u201d San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said. \u201cThis lawsuit today is directly related to the federal government, DHS, and ICE in particular, failing to uphold their obligations to the people of San Antonio.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, City Council voted 9-2<\/a> to ask the city-owned utilities, San Antonio Water System and CPS Energy, as well as certain city departments, to assess the potential impacts of the facility.<\/p>\n ICE bought the 640,000 square-foot warehouse off Loop 410 for $66.1 million earlier this year.<\/p>\n