City of San Antonio v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security: City Sues Under NEPA to Halt Conversion of 640,000-SF East Side Warehouse Into ICE Detention Center
The City of San Antonio sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in federal court in San Antonio on October 13, 2026 (Case No. 5:26-cv-06542). The city wants to stop federal plans to turn a nearly 640,000-square-foot industrial warehouse on the city's East Side into a detention and processing center for up to 1,500 people. The city argues that the agencies have not done the environmental review the National Environmental Policy Act requires. It asks the court to bar further development until that review is complete.
Why it matters
The case tests whether a city can use NEPA and the Administrative Procedure Act to delay a federal agency's purchase and conversion of a large private industrial building that it had no zoning power to block. For industrial owners and brokers, it shows that a sale to a federal user can lead to litigation over what happens on the site after closing. Neighboring owners and lenders also get an early read on how courts handle impact studies of water, wastewater, power and emergency services when federal reuse changes a site's load on local infrastructure.
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Case timeline · 3 entries Latest: October 13, 2026 — City of San Antonio files NEPA/APA suit in the Western District of Texas
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