San Antonio, DOJ begin talks over potentially pausing ICE detention facility plans
The future of the proposed immigration warehouse facility on the East Side is uncertain as the City of San Antonio and the U.S. Department of Justice discuss potential agreements following a lawsuit.
The city sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting ICE Director David Venturella in October to try to block the conversion of a 640,000-square-foot warehouse into an immigration processing facility.
The city said the federal government skipped over an environmental review process required under the National Environmental Policy Act and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
After the U.S. Department of Justice was made aware of the lawsuit, federal officials reached out to the city of San Antonio to discuss plans to come up with an agreement and comply with the environmental review, according to the City Attorney’s Office.
The agreement, according to the city, would pause the lawsuit while environmental reviews are conducted. Additionally, work to convert the warehouse into a detention facility would also be on pause. However, the city said the agreement is still in the works.
KSAT reached out to ICE and DHS for comment Monday evening.
In late August, ICE awarded a $17.3 million contract to GardaWorld Federal Services LLC to renovate the East Side warehouse into a processing and detention facility and provide wraparound services to operate it.
Federal records show the contract has since grown to $61.8 million.
The immigration agency also paid $51 million for a pair of office leases at Brooks in October.
The 1,500-person facility, located at 542 SE Loop 410, is projected to open as early as next spring, according to ICE.
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