San Antonio residents and officials protest ICE detention expansion

Protests and political campaigns are intensifying in San Antonio against the expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities. In one campaign, the Save America Movement has launched billboard advertisements in the city criticizing the Dilley Detention Center, which is operated by CoreCivic under federal contract. The Dilley facility, which holds families and children, was reopened in 2025 by the Trump administration.

Separately, hundreds of demonstrators marched through San Antonio’s East Side to protest the planned use of a warehouse at 542 SE Loop 410 as a detention site for up to 1,500 people. Local officials have expressed opposition to the plan; San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones announced support for legal action by the city to prevent the facility from opening. Critics, including County Commissioner Tommy Calvert, have called for investigations into the $66 million expenditure used to purchase the warehouse.