Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, Democratic Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett and more than a dozen other local officials have asked the city’s private parking lot owners to refuse to let Immigration and Customs Enforcement use their properties as staging areas, KXAN reported. The Department of Homeland Security answered that ICE is “NOT slowing down,” according to KXAN.
The letter, sent Friday, asks owners to “refuse to rent, lease, loan, or otherwise allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to use your property as a staging area for its enforcement operations,” KXAN reported. KVUE News said in a post on X that Casar’s office had been notified last month that ICE used Austin parking lots as staging areas at least twice.
Casar's office said last month that it was notified that ICE has used Austin parking lots as staging areas for enforcement operations at least twice. https://t.co/BwXqA8tfHU
— KVUE News (@KVUE) November 13, 2026
Who signed the letter
The letter was led by Casar and signed by Doggett, Watson, Travis County Judge Andy Brown, eight Austin City Council members, three Travis County commissioners and state Rep. Lulu Flores, according to a press release from Casar’s office.
Council members Natasha Harper-Madison and Marc Duchen did not sign, and neither did Travis County Commissioner Jeff Travillion, KXAN reported. Duchen told KXAN, “As the only immigrant on the City Council I stand strong with Austin’s immigrant community, and against abuses by ICE and any other public safety entity.”
The officials wrote that a “surge” in ICE activity in recent months has “increased terror” in local communities, according to KXAN. The letter also says, “We have seen in cities like New York how using lots for staging can directly lead to horrific violence,” Casar’s office said.
The letter cites a KXAN investigation from last month into an ICE staging operation at a business park in northeast Austin, KXAN reported. The property owner told the station it had not authorized the use of its property, according to KXAN.
DHS: ‘No terminated parking will stop ICE’
DHS rejected the effort. “Rep. Casar should be grateful to our brave law enforcement officers for cleaning up the streets of Austin since he won’t. Luckily, no terminated parking will stop ICE from deporting criminal illegal aliens to make Austin safe again,” a DHS spokesperson said, according to KXAN.
“ICE remains dedicated to conducting enforcement operations in a professional manner that respects the communities it serves and prioritizes the safety of all individuals involved,” DHS said, according to KXAN. “Any claims that ICE is acting outside its authority are categorically false and misrepresent our lawful operations. We will not be deterred by baseless criticism from those who seek to undermine our mission.”
DHS also sent KXAN a list of what it called “public safety threats arrested by ICE in Austin that Rep. Casar is trying to protect,” including a man convicted of assault, arson and driving while intoxicated, the station reported.
Following New York’s lead
The Austin request mirrors a push in New York City, KXAN reported. Last week, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani demanded that ICE stop using city-owned property to stage enforcement operations, and last month Mamdani and more than 100 city and state leaders urged private garage owners not to make their property available to ICE, according to KXAN.
The letter is a request to property owners, not a city ordinance.
Sources
- KVUE News on X
- KXAN via AOL: Officials urge Austin parking lot owners to prohibit ICE
- Office of Rep. Greg Casar: Austin electeds urge parking lot owners to prohibit ICE stagings
Sources cited
Sources
- Original post: KVUE News (@KVUE) on X, Nov 13, 2026
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