SAN ANTONIO – Local officials and religious leaders gathered Monday evening for an immigration town hall to inform the public and reduce fear in the San Antonio community.
As President Donald Trump’s administration makes sweeping changes to immigration policies, the event sought to clarify which actions have been taken at the federal level and how local authorities are responding.
>> WATCH: San Antonio leaders discuss immigration at town hall meeting
During the event, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar emphasized that undocumented migrants still have rights, especially those who are victims or witnesses to a crime.
“If you are the victim of a crime or if you are a witness to a crime and you happen to be undocumented, please, I need you to feel comfortable calling law enforcement,” Salazar said.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg echoed Salazar’s sentiment. He also stressed that resources are available for undocumented residents and that they should know their rights and feel safe in their community.
“There are resources out there, and we want to make sure you have them,” Nirenberg said. “You know your rights, and you can live without fear in our community.”
The town hall comes during uncertainty over the Trump administration’s approach to immigration.
Since taking office in January, Trump has signed several executive orders, many of them target immigration.
>> Your immigration questions answered: What has changed under Trump, what hasn’t and what’s next
Gloria Urrabazo, vice president at Our Lady of the Lake University, described some OLLU students' fears.
“Concerned over birthright citizenships, having to leave a country I’ve known since birth and then the fear of going somewhere that I know nothing about,” Urrabazo read from an OLLU student’s message.
Salazar assured the audience that there has been no federal interest in conducting raids at schools or churches “indiscriminately.”
If a wanted individual leads federal agents to a school or church, Salazar clarified those locations are no longer off-limits. He also said that DACA recipients are not a target of enforcement efforts.
Nirenberg and Salazar both noted that current deportation efforts are not significantly different from those under previous administrations.
“What is happening that is different is the rhetoric, the attention, the showmanship from politicians, and it is designed to do exactly what we are hearing — it’s instilling a lot of fear,” Nirenberg said.
Both Nirenberg and Salazar emphasized their ongoing commitment to creating a safe and inclusive community while acknowledging that cooperation with federal immigration law is necessary.
“We just want people to know that we have not seen these widespread raids here locally by ICE. That’s not to say they won’t occur,” Salazar said. “Certainly, they are conducting targeted operations now, but they haven’t asked us to assist with anything.”
J. Antonio Fernández, president and CEO of Catholic Charities San Antonio, told the audience about the Mother Teresa Center that recently opened in the wake of the Migrant Resource Center closure last week.
The center is aimed at helping people in San Antonio with education, English classes and workforce solutions, Fernández said.
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