Three days after President Donald Trump took office, the San Antonio Police Department announced that the department would work with federal authorities to enforce the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. Statistics regarding the number of residents who have been deported since Jan. 20 in San Antonio are unavailable because deportations are handled at the federal level and not by the state.
San Antonio is not a sanctuary city, since the distinction is prohibited under a Texas law passed in 2017.
In a press release on Oct. 27, the Department of Homeland Security claimed the Trump administration had deported over 500,000 people since the start of his second term.
“This is just the beginning. President Trump and Secretary Noem have jump-started an agency that was hamstrung and barred from doing its job for the last four years,” Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in the press release.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement had a presence in San Antonio in the past, targeting workers at construction sites and markets over the summer, with one raid even occurring on UT San Antonio’s Main Campus in May.
ICE has a San Antonio field office, located at 1777 NE Loop 410, Floor 15, San Antonio, TX 78217.
On ICE’s website, ice.gov, under “Enforcement and Removal Operations,” no information is provided about any enforcement and removal operations that occurred at the San Antonio field office.
In Bexar County, 5% of residents lack permanent legal status.
According to a report by the Migration Policy Institute, 38,000 parents of Bexar County school children are at risk for deportation, and an additional 6,000 children do not have legal status. About one million children in the state live with a parent who does not have legal status.
There is a wide range of San Antonio resources providing aid to undocumented immigrants and their families. One organization is RAICES, a non-profit that offers free and low-cost legal services, social services and refugee client services to families in Texas. They have locations across Texas, including in San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.
Catholic Charities San Antonio offers their Caritas Legal Services, specializing in legal aid on several issues, including immigration law. Provided services include applying for a green card, applying for naturalization, family petitions, work authorizations and more.
According to the City of San Antonio’s website, “residents can contact trusted community legal service providers to apply for free legal representation when they are facing deportation.” The providers include American Gateways, American Organization for Immigrants, as well as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services.
