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A community march is planned after ICE recently awarded a $17 million contract to convert an East Side warehouse into a migrant detention center.
Precinct 4 County Commissioner Tommy Calvert announced the march against the planned facility for migrants.
Pointing to what he sees as persecution by the U.S. Justice Department of those opposed to President Trump, Calvert worries such centers could also be used to house them.
"We believe they want to go to American citizens. That's why we're marching on Oct. 3 to protest and say San Antonians do not want this ICE detention facility," said Calvert. The march would be the latest in a series of public protests against the detention center.
Calvert did not immediately share additional details about the march, which is still a month away. The proposed ICE project is located in his precinct. He has been among several outspoken local elected leaders opposing the plans, including County Judge Peter Sakai and San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones.
The Canada-based security firm GardaWorld won the ICE contract on Aug. 27 to renovate the warehouse into a detention center that could hold up to 1,500 by July 2027. The firm will also provide wraparound services to the facility under the same contract. The Department of Homeland Security purchased the property in the 400 block of SE Loop 410 earlier this year.
The planned center's 640,000 square feet has the same floor space as six big box stores combined.
Calvert called the expenditure to create additional detention space for ICE a waste of taxpayer dollars.
"They have more than enough space, but there are a lot of people invested in private prison schemes, and it is going to be found to be a colossal waste," he said
Calvert said the warehouse was originally designed to hold boxes, not people. He said the detention center will hurt East Side property values and is a lost economic development opportunity for the East Side.
Calvert joined the majority of the Bexar County Commissioners Court in March in passing a resolution opposing the ICE detention center. The resolution said similar facilities have been cited for rotten food, inadequate medical care, disease and unsafe conditions.
