PSL rallies against East Side ICE detention center Carlos Craig/The Paisano
Party for Socialism and Liberation protest with demonstrators in front of a developing East Side U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center to open Sept. 30.
By Hallie Lott
T
Web Editor
he Party for Socialism and Liberation San Antonio held a protest in front of the new East Side Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in response to its opening. Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons wrote in a letter that the warehouse will be a processing center that can hold between 500 and 1,500 people per day and that it is set to open on Sept. 30. ICE acquired the empty warehouse on 542 SE Loop 410 in early February for $66 million. Members of PSL, Democratic Socialists of America and the 50501 Movement, along with San Antonio residents, stood outside the detention center, rallying along to drums and chanting slogans in opposition to ICE and the deportation of immigrants. Trucks and cars passing by on the highway honked, and passengers waved their hands from the vehicles in support of the demonstrators. The protest was organized to raise awareness of the planned detention center. “Our first immediate goal right now is to let the community know about this building being said to be a detention center for September 30th,” PSL SATX organizer Ilse Martinez stated about the protest. “A lot of people that we’ve talked to in the community aren’t aware that this is happening, so this is our first immediate step to get awareness in the community so that we can start doing everything we can to prevent [the detention center] from actually opening.” Martinez emphasized that PSL hopes to take continued action against the facility being a detention site for unauthorized immigrants. “We’re gonna continue up until September 30th, and after, just making sure that people in San Antonio know what’s happening,” Martinez said. “People see the effects of ICE being here. [The] detention center being here is just going to be damaging [to] the community.” Co-chair of the DSA’s immigration committee Soren, who did not give their last name, highlighted the issues the ICE detention center could bring to the
surrounding area. “[The ICE detention center] is going to cause a lot of pollution for the nearby neighborhoods. It’s going to be a heavy strain on some city resources. We’re talking about sewage capacity in this area. And this is an underserved area already,” Soren underlined. Similar warnings have been raised regarding two detention centers in Pennsylvania, which lack water and sewage infrastructure. Detention centers have also received criticism for their environmentally hazardous facilities in counties across the U.S., including Karnes County, Texas. Bexar County Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert was present at the protest. The Eastside ICE facility is located in Calvert’s precinct. He also expressed concerns about the lack of studies on the ICE facility’s potential effects on the local community. “Federal prisons actually decrease the property values of neighboring businesses and homes,” Calvert said. “Typically, [the federal government] would go through the National Environmental Policy Act, and they have a review process to see what the impact of the federal prison would be. [The federal government] didn’t do any of that.” Calvert has apprehensions about the conditions inside ICE detention centers. He continued to detail his worries with the Eastside detention facility’s establishment and the conditions it may foster. “What they do in terms of treatment of the immigrants inside is horrific,” Calvert said. “I’ve talked to a Venezuelan woman who had the lights turned on all night so her and her four year old child couldn’t fall asleep. Measles have spread in these [facilities] because their medical care is terrible. There is no place for people to go outside.” Members of the community present at the protest expressed frustrations about the treatment of unauthorized immigrants and the immigration system as a whole. “DACA kids and people who come here who are immigrants can’t collect [their] social security,” a protester, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “They pay social security into the system. They pay taxes into the system. They get no benefits
at all from being [in the United States].” “They support the rest of Americans who are here, many who don’t pay their taxes. Most [immigrants] work much harder than Americans do, and do jobs that most Americans won’t do.” Unauthorized immigrants are required to pay taxes to the Internal Revenue Service. According to the Institution of Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022. Data for 2023-2025 tax amounts have not been released yet. Calvert emphasized the local community’s role in fighting against ICE’s
expansion in San Antonio. “Our community has been backhanded by the Trump administration trying to put a detention center here,” Calvert stated. “We’ve successfully fought off two [detention centers] before in my precinct, and we’re going to fight on this. We wanted to have a public demonstration of a coalition of people that are saying, ‘This is totally immoral.’” PSL is holding a rally and march against President Donald Trump’s administration on May 1, which is International Workers Day, calling for a general strike of school, work or shopping. The rally and march will be held at 115 N. Main Ave.
Demonstrator participating in PSL’s organized protest in East Side San Antonio.