The San Antonio City Council and the Bexar County Commissioners Court have a chance to stop a massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center before it opens on the city's east side. They should take the federal government to court now.

The federal government paid more than $66 million for a huge warehouse on Southeast Loop 410, about 640,000 square feet in size. ICE then awarded a $17.3 million contract to turn it into a processing and detention center that could hold as many as 1,500 people. The agency plans to open it by summer 2027.

Key questions are still unanswered. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones gave federal officials until September 30 to explain how the facility would run and what its environmental review found. She says that deadline came and went without answers. The city attorney is now weighing legal options.

Bexar County Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert says federal officials failed to complete the environmental reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). That law exists so communities can learn how a major project will affect them before it moves forward.

Residents worry about heavier traffic, neighborhood safety, and extra strain on local services. Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez has asked for studies on how the facility could affect water, sewer, and electricity. Earlier city zoning limits on detention centers did not stop this project, so residents are now calling on leaders to turn to the courts.

"We're not going to give up," protester Jessica Latimer told KENS 5.

City and county leaders should file suit and demand a full environmental review before this facility goes any further. Sign the petition to stop the ICE detention center before it opens on San Antonio's east side.