ICE buys San Antonio building for new Texas detention facility

The industrial building Oakmont 410, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently purchased for a proposed detention facility in San Antonio.

Monte Bach/San Antonio Express-News
The agency released a statement confirming the purchase but failed to disclose the site location.

Where is the new ICE detention facility located?

According to deed records obtained by the San Antonio Express-News, the 639,595-square-foot facility is located at 542 S.E. Loop 410, on the East Side of the city. ICE paid $66.1 million to buy Oakmont 410 from Atlanta-based Oakmont Industrial Group. It was previously vacant and had no tenants since it was first built in 2022.

Deed records for the 39.8-acre plot of land show the sale went through on Jan. 20, and it was electronically recorded by the Bexar County Clerk’s office Wednesday.

"These will not be warehouses — they will be very well structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards," an ICE spokesperson said in a statement to the San Antonio Express-News. "Every day, the (U.S. Department of Homeland Security) is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe. It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and is actively working to expand detention space."

The spokesperson said the agency is using funds allocated from President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" to expand its detention space.

What will the facility be used for?

No details have been provided about when the facility will open or what exactly it will be used for. The Dallas Morning News last month obtained an internal ICE document that said the agency was planning to convert Oakmont 410 into a 1,500-bed processing center, where detainees would go before being transferred to a longer-term detention center and ultimately deported.

Can local officials block the facility?

Some Democratic state officials, as well as elected officials in San Antonio and Bexar County, put up a fight in the days and weeks ahead of the sale, but their efforts were futile. Properties owned or leased by the federal government aren’t subject to local zoning and permitting restrictions, making it difficult to block such plans.

Where else does ICE operate detention centers in Texas?

ICE currently operates processing and detention facilities in Dilley, Pearsall and Karnes City in South Texas.