A Bexar County leader said the agency’s timeline reflects the federal administration “taking an axe to due process.”
SAN ANTONIO — On the same day that San Antonio City Council voted to approve zoning changes that could impact whether detention centers are established in the future, another local leader shared new details about the federal government’s plans for the 640,000-square-foot facility currently being prepared on the east side.
Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert – whose district includes the land where massive warehouse purchased by the federal government earlier this year sits – took to social media to share a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement letter detailing plans for the facility.
ICE said it expects to begin fully using the warehouse as a detention facility by the end of September 2026, while acknowledging that “this is an active procurement and no final decisions have been made.”
The agency, which has ramped up operations over the last year under the Trump administration, also said it expects the facility will “house an average daily population of 500 to 1,500” individuals that authorities believe are in the country illegally.
“ICE is reengineering its detention network and acquisition strategy to support sustained enforcement operations and streamline the detention and removal process,” the agency’s acting head, Todd M. Lyons, said in the Wednesday letter, adding that part of that strategy is retrofitting “non-traditional facilities” to meet its goals.
Calvert criticized the agency’s timeline, saying it represents a “reckless determination to move forward even more quickly than initially revealed.” He added he plans to continue evaluating his options for impeding the facility from opening.
“This administration is taking an axe to due process, imprisoning children and families without proper medical care and shattering the values that make our country great,” Calvert said in a Facebook post.
The letter was also sent to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones—all leaders who have pushed for transparency from ICE ever since the agency bought the building for $66.1 million.
Local leaders, particularly Democratic representatives in South Texas, have been especially critical of stepped-up federal immigration tactics, saying they harm not only families but the economy.
Part of those conversations: the ICE detention facility in Dilley, which received national attention after a 5-year-old Minnesota boy and his father were detained there before Castro and others successfully pushed for their release.
The changes approved by San Antonio leaders Thursday, including requiring that future detention facilities seek a special-use authorization from City Council, would not impact government-run centers. Only privately operated facilities would have to overcome those hurdles.