Austin anti-ICE protest: Protesters call on city leaders to protect immigrants

AUSTIN, Texas – Hundreds of protesters are calling on Austin city leaders to do more to protect immigrants in the community.

They gathered outside city hall Tuesday afternoon for an “Ice Out of Austin protest.”

What they’re saying:

The event, organized by “Hands off Central Texas”, featured live music and remarks from groups including the League of Women’s Voters, an immigration attorney, the Austin Justice Coalition, and others sharing concerns about immigration enforcement and public safety.

“I see the violence on my feed all the time and see it start to creep into the Costco that I go to and the parking lots that I have grown up going to and living in and seeing it encroach on my city,” said attendee Amethyst Jonquile.

Organizers say two petitions with over 10,000 signatures are circling urging the Austin City Council, Mayor Kirk Watson, and the city manager to adopt an ordinance preventing the Austin Police Department from assisting immigration agents serving administrative warrants in the city.

“This petition came about because we wanted to show what I think is on everyone’s minds. There are a lot of different ways to get involved in your community and local governments in a good way,” said Hands Off Central Texas organizer Shelby Evans.

The petition is also calling for Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis to retrain the entire APD staff to prevent city employees from knowingly, or unknowingly, notifying ICE of the address or current location of Austinites with ICE or DPS administrative warrants.

ICE deportation cases with Austin ties

The Trump administration has apologized for a mistake in the deportation of a college student who was trying to surprise her family in Austin for Thanksgiving. Her case comes as another Central Texas family said a loved one arrested by ICE has seemingly disappeared

“We also have, I think, over 70 statements that people wrote out that were also delivered to the council so that they can inform how they want to use our tax dollars our resources to allocate in a way that we think is appropriate, which would not be to serve up capture and give people over to ICE,” said Evans.

Last week, APD announced it will update its policy on how it cooperates with federal immigration agents. At the moment, there are no clear rules in place for when they run into someone with a non-criminal warrant.

The current policy says officers have to comply with immigration detainer requests, but the policy doesn’t address administrative warrants.

What’s next:

The group delivered the petition directly to Austin City Council members Mark Siegl, Ryan Alter, Vanessa Fuentes, Paige Ellis, and Zo Quadri.

Jose Velasquez spoke on what will happen now. 

“We continue communication and continue working with the community,” said Velasquez.

APD says it’s reviewing general orders to get clearer guidance on dealing with administrative warrants.

Big picture view:

The protest comes just weeks after the death of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minnesota, sparking widespread demonstrations across the country.

Closer to home, federal immigration agents conducted operations in Kyle and Buda last week without prior notice to local law enforcement or county officials.

“We have seen what’s going on in Minnesota, but we’ve also seen what has gone on in our local community. A number of people here are impacted by community members, and the fact that due process is not being respected, the fact we’re seeing violence and use of force that’s completely inappropriate against our community members. We can’t be silent about it, so we’ve gathered, and we’re going to say something,” said Evans.

In Lockhart, on Tuesday, the police department said it was made aware that ICE personnel were conducting law enforcement activity near the intersection of FM 20 and US 183.

The city of Lockhart Police Department were not involved and were not notified in advance.