SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio City Council is scheduled to hold a special meeting addressing the increased presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the city.
According to an Instagram video from District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur, the City Council is going to meet to discuss the partnership between the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) and ICE, along with San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones.
“There is going to be public comment so you can come share your thoughts, and we hope that we can have a good conversation about what we’re required to do and making sure we’re still keeping all members of our community safe,” Kaur said.
With the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minnesota, there have been increased protests in San Antonio regarding ICE, such as a protest organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation San Antonio and 50501 San Antonio taking place on Jan. 10, according to News 4 San Antonio.
According to an interview with CBS San Antonio, Jones said there are 100,000 undocumented immigrants in the city, but she stated that they are still members of the community and that she is still inquisitive and monitoring federal agencies.
“We don’t know what will happen, but I continue to ask questions to the federal authorities to ensure that we have that information so we can balance public trust and public safety,” Jones said in the interview. “We need both of those things and that starts with ensuring that people trust who’s showing up at their door, and frankly, people being treated with respect as they also exercise their First Amendment rights.”
The meeting will be held on Jan. 22 at 1 p.m., but there is no set location or agenda on the council’s website as of this writing.