One San Antonio-based immigration attorney, who attended an ICE check-in appointment with a client Thursday, noticed no change in law enforcement presence.
SAN ANTONIO — The Department of Homeland Security announced its intention to bolster security at ICE facilities nationwide after the Wednesday morning shooting in Dallas, which ended in the death of one detainee and injury of two others.
In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in part, “DHS will immediately begin increasing security at ICE facilities across the country.”
Joshua Jahn, who who ended up taking his own life, was targeting ICE agents, according to federal officials on Tuesday.
Officials said Jahn had been planning the attack for a while as evidenced by notes found at his residence that displayed anti-ICE sentiment.
In San Antonio, there’ve been no obvious signs of an increased law enforcement presence at ICE sites, including the check-in office at 3523 Crosspoint.
Immigration attorney Carlos Castaneda coincidentally happened to be at the ICE check-in office with a client on Wednesday when he learned of the Dallas shooting. He noticed no immediate change as far as law enforcement present then and it was the same on Thursday when he attended another check-in appointment.
“I didn’t expect there to be a change from one day to another. There was no additional reinforcements there. I didn’t see the ICE officers act anymore furtively when interacting with people,” Castaneda said.
While it’s too early to indicate what the true impacts will be, Castaneda anticipates potentially more roadblocks for immigration attorneys.
“I think that we’re going to see an overreaction by government officials to this that will make things a bit harder in terms of visiting clients, communicating with them and without any significant benefit in terms of security to personnel to detainees,” Castaneda said.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office is not currently helping with increased security at ICE facilities, according to the department’s public information officer.
KENS 5 reached out to the San Antonio Police Department but did not hear back.
The Frio County Sheriff’s Office and Pearsall Police Department also did not respond to questions about assisting DHS in this security effort.
Annie Bright, an immigration expert at St. Mary’s University School of Law, emphasized the importance for migrant detainees to be afforded their due process rights, no matter the climate or situation in the country.
“The important thing is that attorneys are still able to contact and communicate with detainees, that those detainees are still able to communicate with people like their family to let them know where they are. And that everybody is kept safe, from the ICE officers to the detainees themselves, especially after an incident like this.”