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Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) told reporters on Friday he opposes the creation of a federal immigration facility center on San Antonio’s East Side.
The facility is one of several being purchased by the Department of Homeland Security across the country to serve as new detention and processing sites for people arrested by Immigration and Customs enforcement.
Homeland Security funding is currently in limbo as both chambers of Congress have left D.C. ahead of a deadline to pass appropriations for the department leading to a shutdown that would take place at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
The facility is approximately 640,000 square feet and is at 542 SE Loop 410 just south of I-10. It’s anticipated to hold up to 1,500 people after they are arrested by ICE. The proposal has received immense backlash from San Antonio residents who have been outspoken against it at recent city council meetings.
This week San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones sent a letter to the city’s congressional delegation asking them to oppose funding for the San Antonio facility.
The city council passed a resolution on Thursday asking city staff to look at ways of providing support to people in the city such as know-your-rights training or ways to deter the center from opening.
Cuellar, who represents parts of East San Antonio, said DHS is planning the new sites to house or process 80,000 migrants, but that the facility on the East Side will not be for detention.
“It will be a processing center in San Antonio, which means that they're there for a period of time. Get them processed. They get picked up, they get processed there, and then they'll be sent somewhere else outside of San Antonio for a detention center,” said Cuellar.
Reporting by the Washington Post in December detailed ICE plans to detain the 80,000 people in warehouses across the country with San Antonio listed as a processing site.
“I'm against this place, because we already got 41,500 beds,” Cuellar said. “To add another 80,000 is just a buying spree that is not going even through Congress. They're doing this because they passed the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' with every Republican voting yes, and every Democrat voting no,” he said.
Cuellar added that ICE has not been open or transparent with the communities it is opening centers, a frustration that has been shared by local leaders in San Antonio.
“People are concerned because no information provides fear and uncertainty, but especially to the city and the county. They should be communicated, and I will ask them to do that, but they have not been very transparent,” Cuellar said. “I'm trying to be nice, because I have to work with these folks, but they need to be more transparent with the local communities, and I will keep pushing for that."
Cuellar currently represents parts of San Antonio in the 28th Congressional District which stretches from Laredo to San Antonio, has been redrawn during the controversial mid-decade redistricting cycle, and will no longer include San Antonio during the next Congress in 2027.
Until last year, Cuellar and his wife Imelda had been under investigation by the FBI for a purported bribery scheme involving the government of Azerbaijan, but Cuellar received a pardon from President Trump. Last month, Cuellar’s brother Martin Cuellar was indicted on federal charges related to alleged misuse of COVID-19 funds.
