SAPD Chief McManus says the department is cooperating with Homeland Security in compliance with the law.
SAN ANTONIO — As the crackdown on immigration continues across the country, the San Antonio Police Department states they’re cooperating with Homeland Security to comply with the law.
Every three hours, immigration officers check out who the San Antonio Police Department has arrested.
“Every morning at 5, the prisoners come into the prison processing center,” said SAPD Chief William McManus. “They’re there for a couple of hours, about 3 or 4 hours, till the magistrate can summon them. Every morning at 5, Homeland Security comes in, and they have a list of names that they bump up against the people that we’ve arrested, if they want them or not.”
It happens in the prisoner processing center, which the chief explains is where people who have been arrested are held until they can be magistrated by Bexar County.
If ICE wants someone who is arrested, McManus explained that Homeland Security issues a detainer, which SAPD complies with, meaning they hold that person until ICE comes back, unless by law they’re required to release them.
McManus stated that HSI wanted to come every hour, but they came to an agreement.
“Long story short, we all agreed on every 3 hours, ICE would come in, look for their people and be gone. Issue a detainer if they needed to and be gone,” he said.
Homeland Security and the police chief met Monday.
“We were all in agreement that everything that we talked about met their requirements for cooperation,” McManus said. “So we’re in good shape with… being on the same page and being in compliance with the law.”
The San Antonio Police Department has agreed to assist HSI.
“We agreed with them that we will cooperate with you in every way possible,” Chief McManus said. “Every way that is required by law. We will cooperate with you now, what does cooperate mean? If they asked us to walk into a construction site and round up some people with them, and we say no, is that cooperating with them? It is not.”