Community demonstrations are being organized for Wednesday and Saturday in the Alamo City, in conjunction with nationwide anti-Trump rallies.
SAN ANTONIO — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has deployed a contingent of National Guard troops to San Antonio, police officials told KENS 5. It’s unknown how many.
The move comes as organizations plan immigration rallies in San Antonio and beyond this week. “No Kings” demonstrations are set to unfold across the country Saturday in what organizers are calling “a nationwide day of defiance” and “nonviolent action” against President Donald Trump’s policies. Community advocates say a protest is also set to unfold at City Hall on Wednesday evening,
San Antonio police officials didn’t directly link the National Guard deployment to the protests, which arrived in Alamo City streets in the form of peaceful demonstration last weekend. But it also comes amid rising tensions over anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles, where thousands have taken to the streets and National Guard troops have begun to protect immigration agents as they make arrests.
Subsequent protests have erupted across Texas this week. On Sunday, a crowd of about 100 marched in downtown San Antonio’s main plaza against Trump’s immigration crackdown and ICE arrests, which they argued are being conducted without due process.
Meanwhile, a contingent of officials including Mayor Ron Nirenberg, City Manager Erik Walsh and SAPD Chief William McManus are set to hold a Wednesday morning news conference to “share the city’s plan to support peaceful demonstration while ensuring public safety.”
ICE operations have ramped up across the country in the last two weeks, including in San Antonio. On May 28, dozens of migrants were detained by ICE agents, a spokesperson said, amid operations in the downtown area. They included a 21-year-old Cuban man whose mother told KENS 5 was taken away just as he was arriving for an immigration hearing.
This is a developing story.