Mayor Jones is urging the federal government to reconsider plans to convert a warehouse on the city’s East Side into an immigration processing center. (SBG San Antonio)
SAN ANTONIO - Despite protests from many community members, as well as several local officials voicing their opposition, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is moving forward with its planned facility.
On Thursday, Mayor Jones responded to Acting Director Venturella, requesting clarification on two specific points relating to the development and permitting process.
In a letter to Acting ICE Director Venturella, Jones referenced Venturella’s June 22 letter “providing an update on the plans for the facility that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acquired in the City of San Antonio.” Jones said Venturella’s letter confirms ICE intends “to repurpose the 640,000 square-foot warehouse to serve as an immigration detention and processing center with an estimated daily occupancy of 1,000 to 1,500 detainees.”
I reiterate my opposition to this detention facility in San Antonio,” Jones wrote.
Jones said Venturella’s letter notes the facility will comply with applicable law and that ICE will work with local authorities. Jones asked for “clarification and confirmation on two key points.”
First, Jones asked ICE to confirm whether the detention center has gone through the review process under the National Environmental Policy Act, also known as NEPA. Jones wrote that “based on law and historical practice, the NEPA reviews should have been completed before DHS acquired the site,” and said the city understands NEPA reviews are to be performed “in cooperation with State and local governments.”
Jones wrote that compliance with NEPA and federal procedures is “critical to provide the City and its residents with the critical information they need to understand the project's impact on the human environment” and to allow meaningful public participation through a comment process. She asked ICE to provide “a detailed status on the NEPA compliance process with respect to this project.”
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Second, Jones said she welcomed Venturella’s commitment to work with city authorities on design plans and proposed engineering work by using the city’s permitting process. Jones wrote that using the process allows for “appropriate vetting and consideration in accordance with established standards, protocols, and timelines,” and said the city’s public works director will send information on the permitting process.
Jones also said she expects the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to consider community and stakeholder input before an implementation plan and schedule are completed. “I look forward to an extensive dialogue before a vendor is selected so that my community's concerns may be addressed in a meaningful way,” she wrote
FULL LETTER:
On June 22, the agency, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, made the announcement that it would continue with its plans for an immigration processing center, writing in a letter to Mayor Gina Ortiz-Jones.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is reimagining its detention structure and acquisition strategy to address rising operational tempo and increasing arrests. These efforts aim to meet the growing demand for bedspace and streamline the detention and removal process," said David J. Venturella, Senior Offical at ICE in his letter to Mayor Jones. "In order to meet these growing demands and ensure ICE can achieve its critical mission of arresting and removing aliens from the United States, ICE is procuring non-traditional facilities that will be retrofit to ICE's design standards to support the agency's critical mission
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