{"id":467358,"date":"2026-10-16T01:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T01:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/467358\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T01:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T01:16:10","slug":"san-antonio-councilmembers-want-to-fight-ice-presence-at-brooks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/467358\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio councilmembers want to fight ICE presence at Brooks"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Two days after the City of San Antonio sued to block<\/a> the conversion of an East Side warehouse to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention and processing facility, councilmembers indicated they want to explore ways to fight the agency moving into leased space at Brooks. <\/p>\n

Councilmembers voted 9-2 Thursday approving a resolution to work and coordinate with community stakeholders on efforts to prevent or delay an ICE detention facility in the city\u2019s urban core. <\/p>\n

At Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones\u2019 urging, the council first added language asking them to also take similar steps to block or delay the execution of recently reported, 15-year leases <\/a>at a building at Brooks, which federal records show are linked to ICE and will reportedly be occupied by attorneys and support staff. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we should take the opportunity to also communicate that we \u2014 for those of us up here that do \u2014 do not support the establishment of such a strong legal footprint. Which would again enable, I think, an even stronger presence and a type of facilitation network that would set up a larger presence here,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

A majority of councilmembers have opposed the planned conversion of a 640,000-square-foot warehouse into a processing facility, with a planned daily population of up to 1,500 people. <\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the city sued the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and the heads of both agencies, arguing the government had not done a required environmental review process.<\/p>\n

\u201cICE has gone rogue and at the very least, we must take action to protect all San Antonians from this threat,\u201d Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), who represents the area where the facility is planned, said at Thursday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran (D3) had pushed for Thursday\u2019s original resolution, but she opposed the mayor\u2019s amendment, noting \u201cPreston Hollow holds the lease.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot come in and say, \u2018You, Preston Hollow, can\u2019t lease out to these people.\u2019 So that\u2019s where it gets difficult, and that why I didn\u2019t want to \u2014 if legally we can\u2019t do it, I don\u2019t want to vote for what it is,\u201d Viagran said, though she noted she ultimately voted for the amended version.<\/p>\n

Federal records show the leases are worth $42.5 million<\/a> and $9.8 million<\/a> for a combined $52.3 million.<\/p>\n

Notice identification numbers on the documents link back to separate federal records<\/a> indicating the leases were meant for ICE. <\/p>\n

Preston Hollow Community Capital, which has a controlling interest in the WatersEdge office buildings, told KSAT the leases at WatersEdge II building on Inner Circle Drive are for administrative office space.<\/p>\n

They said they have no involvement in the East Side detention facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognize the community\u2019s concerns about immigration detention facilities and want to be clear about the federal office leases at WatersEdge on the Brooks campus. These leases are for administrative office space and expressly prohibit detention facilities, holding cells, and the processing of individuals or families in custody.<\/p>\n

We understand the space will consolidate existing San Antonio-based functions of the Department of Justice\u2019s Executive Office for Immigration Review and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor. The anticipated occupants are attorneys and support staff.”<\/p>\n

Preston Hollow Community Capital<\/p>\n

The EOIR<\/a> \u201cconducts immigration court proceedings, appellate reviews, and administrative hearings,\u201d according to its website, while OPLA<\/a> represents DHS in immigration removal proceedings before the EOIR.<\/p>\n

A DHS spokesperson told KSAT in an emailed statement that ICE would not confirm office locations, claiming a \u201ccoordinated campaign of violence\u201d against its officers. <\/p>\n

\u201cIs it really news that when a federal agency hires more personnel that they need more space?\u201d the emailed statement continues. \u201cThanks to the Big Beautiful Bill, we have an additional 12,000 ICE officers and agents on the ground across the country. That\u2019s a 120% increase in our workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Antonio\u2019s two conservative council members, Misty Spears (D9) and Marc Whyte (D10), voted against Thursday\u2019s resolution and have also opposed the lawsuit. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis has nothing to do with environmental impacts. I mean, this is all … fluff and cover and a pretext for wanting to send a certain message to people,\u201d Whyte said.<\/p>\n

Read also:<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Two days after the City of San Antonio sued to block the conversion of an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[27260,3084,1829,1724,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-467358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-brooks","tag-city-hall","tag-ice","tag-immigration","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}