Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones says DHS and ICE failed to uphold their obligations to San Antonio
Gina Ortiz JonesMayor of San Antonio
Jones says the lawsuit is a direct response to the federal government, DHS and especially ICE failing to meet their obligations to the people of San Antonio.
Responding to
DHS and ICE violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by buying the Loop 410 warehouse and awarding a contract to convert it into a detention facility without an environmental review.
“This lawsuit today is directly related to the federal government, DHS, and ICE in particular, failing to uphold their obligations to the people of San Antonio”
Reporting
Reporting
Where this statement fits
San Antonio sues DHS and ICE over a planned East Side detention facility, saying the agencies skipped environmental review
The City of San Antonio sued the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on October 13, 2026, to halt the conversion of a 640,000-square-foot East Side warehouse into an immigration detention and processing facility for up to 1,500 people. The city says the agencies bought the property and contracted for its renovation without the environmental review the National Environmental Policy Act requires. DHS said the suit is not about the environment but an effort to stop President Trump's immigration enforcement. Two council members called the lawsuit political theater.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
KSAT report on the lawsuit and news conference. It quotes the complaint, council members on both sides and the full statement DHS sent to the station.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
San Antonio Report coverage of the news conference announcing the lawsuit, with remarks from City Attorney Andy Segovia, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and council members, and a DHS statement.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Jones spoke at the news conference where City Attorney Andy Segovia and a majority of the council announced the lawsuit. She said the city had been very patient in communicating with DHS and ICE.
After the quotation
Responding to concerns about the cost of the suit, she said the community deserves to understand what is happening at the facility.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is DHS and ICE's plan to convert the warehouse at 542 SE Loop 410 into an immigration detention facility without first completing an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. Jones says the agencies are "failing to uphold their obligations to the people of San Antonio", so we labeled it Condemned. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional; it loses because she states no condition or competing view.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
More from this case
Read the full caseDHS says the lawsuit is not about the environment but about stopping President Trump
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
“Let’s be honest about this. This isn’t about the environment. It’s about trying to stop President Trump from making America safe again.”Read statement
San Antonio council member Misty Spears calls the city's suit against DHS and ICE political theater
“Suing the federal government for enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is political theater at taxpayers’ expense.”Read statement
Council member Marc Whyte says similar suits have only delayed federal projects and calls this one political theater
“What you’ve seen in other cities is it’s been delayed by some period of time where then the federal government’s got to go check a few boxes and then they can move forward.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones says DHS and ICE failed to uphold their obligations to San Antonio
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/6254-jones-says-the-lawsuit-is-a-direct-response
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones says DHS and ICE failed to uphold their obligations to San Antonio". First published: 2026-10-20. Last updated: 2026-10-20. https://disputeindex.com/events/6254-jones-says-the-lawsuit-is-a-direct-response