Passions are running high at San Antonio City Hall on Thursday afternoon, where more than 150 people were signed up to speak.
SAN ANTONIO — One hundred and eighty people signed up to speak during the public comments portion of a special City Council meeting to discuss immigration enforcement and federal operations in San Antonio, but Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones was forced to call a recess before the first speaker was done with his remarks.
Bexar County Commissioner Grant Moody kicked off what’s expected to be hours of public comments Thursday, but he was interrupted by jeers from a packed City Hall when he said “there should be zero tolerance for attacks on those who serve, whether they wear the uniform of SAPD, BCSO, FBI, ICE or any other federal agency.”
It was the mention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that sparked outcry from the crowd nearly immediately, with one person yelling out, “They’re breaking the law and murdering people.” Another was heard imploring Moody to “sit down!”
Jones warned that spectators face the risk of being escorted out if they weren’t respectful. A few minutes later, when the crowd prevented Moody from continuing, she called for a 15-minute break.
The episode came early in what was expected to be a passionate and perhaps tense special meeting called by Jones in order to have a “transparent dialogue” between leaders and community members about ICE operations in San Antonio. Some in attendance voiced support for and others against that immigration enforcement.
Police Chief William McManus addressed the council before public comment began, emphasizing that the San Antonio Police Department does not enforce federal immigration laws.
“It is illegal for us to enforce immigration laws,” McManus said. “Our role is public safety alone, not immigration enforcement.”
McManus said that in 2025, SAPD assisted in immigration-related operations only twice, and solely by providing scene or perimeter security at the request of federal agencies. He added that when SAPD takes enforcement action, it is based on criminal warrants, not civil immigration violations.
Several speakers spoke forcefully against ICE and federal immigration enforcement, arguing that cooperation with federal agencies undermines trust within immigrant communities.
“Why are we asking the trained and accountable to protect the untrained and negligent?” one speaker asked, drawing cheers from parts of the crowd.
Former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg also addressed the council, warning that immigration enforcement partnerships can have unintended consequences.
“It doesn’t create safety,” Nirenberg said. “It creates chaos.”
Jones was forced to call additional brief recesses as the jeers returned at other points in the meeting.
Growing tensions
The meeting comes at a time of particularly strong scrutiny of the agency after ICE agents shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month, during a period of heightened operations.
But the local tensions go back to last summer, when ramped-up ICE enforcement led to reports of roundups at courthouses in San Antonio and elsewhere. Community concerns were renewed in November, when more than 140 were detained along San Pedro in a middle-of-the-night operation stemming from a federal investigation into one suspected drug dealer. Of those, 51 were found to be Tren de Aragua gang members; political leaders have called for authorities for information about the others who were taken away..
More recently, a 25-year-old Cuban citizen was arrested who allegedly rammed into ICE vehicles outside a Walmart in San Antonio as authorities were trying to arrest him. Tuesday brought the latest in a series of anti-ICE demonstrations as more than 100 peacefully gathered outside City Hall to voice opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies, marking one year since the start of the president’s second term.
This is a developing story.