SAN ANTONIO — One week after federal agents descended on San Antonio to carry out immigration enforcement operations, that city’s mayor still has no idea how many people were arrested.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg said what he does know is that the operations have spread fear throughout several communities.
“I’ve heard anecdotes of some schools where students are not showing up because there’s a lot of fear. I’ve heard the same on some job sites,” the mayor told us on Inside Texas Politics.
A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the enforcement targeted only those with active criminal warrants.
The federal enforcement was also carried out in Austin, the Rio Grande Valley, and Dallas-Fort Worth. WFAA confirmed 84 arrests during operations in North Texas.
And just a few days after the operations, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered all state agencies to cooperate with President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan.
Gov. Abbott also wants the state to identify land and facilities that could be used during the operations.
“Certainly, the Trump Administration’s goal of spreading fear, particularly through immigrant communities, but also communities like ours, like you said, which are 63% Latino. We know that there are two million people in Texas that are part of a mixed-status household, so there’s a tremendous amount of fear,” the mayor relayed.
Because of term limits, Nirenberg is serving his fourth and final term as mayor.
Eight years after he was first elected, Nirenberg is the longest-serving San Antonio mayor since Henry Cisneros in the 80’s.
“I have one job right now and that is to finish the work of my office. And I fully intend to run through the tape,” he said. “I would like to stay engaged. I plan to stay engaged. I will. I’m not sure what that looks like yet. But if there’s work to be done in public life, I plan to do it.”