Democratic U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro of San Antonio said he was disturbed after watching videos of people, including families, being taken away.
SAN ANTONIO — President Trump’s “Border Czar,” Tom Homan, told the media in D.C. on Thursday to expect increased ICE activity in neighborhoods across the country. Courthouses and college campuses, he said, are not off-limits to enforcement operations.
“We’re going to greatly increase the number of teams,” Homan said. “So, you’re going to see more teams on the streets than you’ve ever seen before.”
San Antonio experienced that firsthand this week. On Friday, UTSA leaders and ICE officials confirmed that multiple people were taken into custody by agents on campus. They were part of a construction crew hired by a subcontractor.
Despite online rumors, UTSA stated that its campus police were not involved in the raid. Our cameras did not capture this operation. However, we were present on Wednesday and Thursday when agents took people into custody at the downtown immigration court.
These operations come after it was revealed that the Trump administration has set a new goal of making 3,000 immigration arrests per day.
Democratic U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro of San Antonio said he was disturbed after watching videos of people, including families, being taken away.
He, along with local immigration attorneys, believes this evokes fear among the migrant community, particularly those with upcoming immigration court hearings.
“It doesn’t feel like America,” Castro said. “It feels like something you’d see in a third-world country that doesn’t respect human rights, due process, or the rule of law.”
Castro said his office is investigating the ICE operations at immigration court. In many cases, plainclothes agents reportedly wait in the lobby of the court for migrants who have just had their cases dismissed by a judge.
“They’re being duped into showing up, then arrested and deported without truly getting their day in court,” Castro said.
According to Homan, while ICE’s priority is still apprehending dangerous criminals, anyone in the country illegally is at risk of deportation. However, Castro said that based on what his office has gathered, most of those arrested by ICE do not have violent criminal histories—though no public data is available to confirm that claim.
“The Department of Homeland Security has been very secretive—completely lacking transparency—and has refused to provide even basic answers: how many people they’re arresting and deporting, where they’re sending them, and how many of these individuals actually have criminal records,” Castro said.
KENS 5 reached out to several Republican lawmakers representing Texas in D.C., including Senator John Cornyn, Senator Ted Cruz, Representative Tony Gonzales, and Representative Chip Roy. None were available for an interview regarding ICE operations on Friday.