McAllen area residents push back against any ICE detention facility in their community
Resident spoke out during last night's commission meeting
Photo above: A person holds up a sign in opposition to building an immigration detention center in McAllen during a city commissioners meeting in McAllen on April 13, 2026. Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Berenice Garcia, The Texas Tribune
April 13, 2026
McAllen TX - In an effort to thwart the possibility of an immigrant detention center opening up in the city, Rio Grande Valley residents confronted the McAllen city commissioners on Monday, demanding their opposition and transparency on the issue.
“I want to continue being proud of all that my city does for our community, but for that, we need transparency and we need communication,” Alexis Saenz, a McAllen resident, told the commissioners. “I demand you reject public funding, approvals and local resources for ICE.”
Saenz was one of nine speakers during McAllen’s city commission meeting who pushed against the possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. A McAllen warehouse located in an industrial park in McAllen’s trade corridor, less than five miles from the Anzalduas International Bridge, was included in a list of potential sites that circulated online in February.
The pushback comes as more residents across the country, including in Texas, are urging their city officials to use their local authority to stop or disincentive ICE’s use of warehouses for the detainment of immigrants.
A Dallas-area facility was also among the potential sites. In February, the facility’s owner, Majestic Realty Co., confirmed it had been contacted about the potential sale of the facility but said it had not and would not enter into any agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the use of the building as a detention facility.
Aside from the location, little is known about ICE’s plans for the McAllen warehouse. At the end of March, DHS paused the purchase of warehouses as part of a review of contracts signed under former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
DHS did not respond to questions from The Texas Tribune.
City officials have also not heard from the federal government on a potential facility.
In a text message to the Tribune, McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos said he had not heard from anyone on the issue.
Making elected officials aware and getting them to address the issue publicly is the first step in possibly preventing the ICE facility from moving forward for Isaac Amani Newman, co-founder of For the People Alliance, a civic engagement organization in the Rio Grande Valley. The group rallied residents to speak at the McAllen meeting. They previously mobilized residents to speak out against a potential data center near the city of Harlingen and helped push city officials there to approve a resolution opposing data centers.
“We need to know where our city leaders even stand on this to begin with,” Newman said.
After the residents made their public comments, city commissioner Rudy Castillo said he had not heard of the issue before the meeting but supported placing an item on the agenda to discuss the potential ICE facility.
“I’m glad people came out,” Castillo said. “Our voice will be heard if we speak.”
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.