“It’s important as an effort of transparency,” Councilman Edward Mungia said about the sharing of information regarding SAPD-assisted ICE incidents.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Police Department responded to requests to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel three times in a recent three-week span—including on March 30 at the airport, when a detainee “became uncooperative.”
Details of those law enforcement assists were outlined in a memo provided to the city manager’s office by SAPD Chief William McManus on April 1 and made available to view publicly. It accounts for every such instance that San Antonio police responded to an ICE request for help between Jan. 22 and April 1.
McManus’s decision to release the information comes amid continuing national scrutiny over federal immigration enforcement tactics as well as uncertainty on the part of city leaders over how exactly an east-side detention facility run by ICE will be used.
“Having this information out there is really important for residents to know, for the city to be transparent on what’s being asked of us and what we are contributing to this situation,” said Councilman Edward Mungia, the District 4 representative who, upon declaring in a January meeting that ICE “doesn’t belong” in San Antonio, said he’d like the city to post information about ICE requests to local police.
City Council members were told last week that the information was soon going to be made available online.
“I’m glad it’s happening,” Mungia said Monday. “It’s important as an effort of transparency.”
Senate Bill 4, an “anti-sanctuary” state law passed in 2017, requires that San Antonio cooperate with federal agencies when it comes to enforcement of federal immigration policy; the city is also forbidden from passing policies that interfere with those law enforcement activities.
The first ICE incident that involved SAPD officers happened March 13 along the 100 block of Dokes, in the area of Bandera and Culebra roads. Twelve San Antonio police officers responded to assist with “a male who was resisting arrest,” specifically by serving as “scene security” for federal law enforcement.
Later, on March 30, two airport officers helped to handcuff an ICE detainee who “became uncooperative” as federal agents were trying to get him on an airplane. Two days later, on the far north side, two SAPD officers helped ICE take someone suspected of having drugs into custody.
McManus reported that the personnel costs for his department’s response to those three situations totaled $1,554.
But the police chief’s memo suggests the frequency of ICE operations could be growing in San Antonio. In that January meeting of City Council, McManus said SAPD assisted in immigration-related operations just twice in all of 2025.
“That’s a lot in a short amount of time,” Mungia said. “That’s another reason we thought this was important: ICE may not tell the City of San Antonio, ‘Hey, we’re going to really focus on your city right now,’ or, ‘We’re not gonna tell the public that information.’ But based on what they’re requesting, we can tell that they’re trying to do more.’”
Some City Council members have said the city needs to support all law enforcement activity, include that of ICE, and that anyone who wants to see change should take it up with the lawmakers who represent them.
Others have pushed for the city to take action, directing city staff to evaluate its options in regard to privately run detention centers, ensuring city workers know their rights, and pursuing a report on the contribution of migrants to the local economy.
Leaders were recently briefed by the findings of a report commissioned by the city in partnership with the American Immigration Council, which found immigrants account for more than 21% of the city’s population growth and about 14% of the city’s gross domestic product.
And on Thursday, City Council will hear an update on how much leeway the body may have to tighten zoning rules as part of an effort to make it more difficult for detention facilities to do business within city limits.
Mungia recommended that residents be educated about their rights if stopped by ICE, as well as having a plan and knowing who to call. The councilman said a recent public safety forum in his district – a meeting in which road infrastructure, burglary and theft were specifically cited as concerns, but not illegal immigration – made his constituents’ sentiments on illegal immigration clear.
“That’s not the problem in our community,” he said. “However, these attacks on our immigrant community are.”