Austin Leaders Urge Parking Lot Owners to Keep ICE Out.
DHS Says Enforcement Won’t Slow.
A coalition of Austin and Travis County officials is asking private parking lot and garage owners to deny federal immigration agents access to their property, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is pushing back hard.
What the letter asks
The open letter, sent this past Friday, asks owners not to rent, lease, loan, or otherwise allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to use their lots as staging areas for enforcement operations. Signers include Mayor Kirk Watson and U.S. Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett, along with every Austin City Council member except Natasha Harper-Madison and Marc Duchen.
Chart: council breakdown based on the signatory list described in reporting on the letter. The mayor is not counted as a council member.
The signers also include Travis County Judge Andy Brown, three county commissioners and state Rep. Lulu Flores.
The KXAN investigation behind it
The letter cites KXAN’s reporting from last month on an ICE staging operation at Brookfield Properties’ Tuscany Crossing Business Park on Ambition Way in northeast Austin. KXAN witnessed detainees being transported from a secluded lot there. The property owner told the station it never authorized ICE to use the site, while DHS defended its operations as lawful.
According to the Eyes On ICE account, the letter also points to New York, where officials say staging near a shooting scene shows the risks. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and more than 100 New York officials sent a similar letter in October after an ICE agent shot a man in Marble Hill.
DHS responds
A DHS spokesperson said the agency’s “message remains” and that “ICE is NOT slowing down.” The spokesperson said Casar should be grateful to federal officers for “cleaning up the streets of Austin” and that no loss of parking would stop ICE from deporting what DHS calls criminal illegal aliens.
What the letter can and can’t do
The letter is a request, not a law.
Owners may choose to act on it, but nothing compels them. A Bronx Times report on the New York effort noted that local sanctuary-style policies there restrict city agencies but generally don’t bar federal agents from operating on private property.
Austin’s situation is similar: the city has also faced state pressure over immigration cooperation. Watson recently asked Police Chief Lisa Davis to revise APD’s immigration enforcement guidelines before state leadership changes in January.
Supporters see property owners as a practical check on enforcement. Critics, including DHS, argue that local officials are interfering with federal law enforcement.
Whether any Austin owner publicly commits to the request remains to be seen.
Sources:
- KXAN, “Q&A: What ICE’s use of a parking lot reveals about immigration enforcement operations in Austin” — https://www.kxan.com/inside-the-investigation/qa-what-ices-use-of-a-parking-lot-reveals-about-immigration-enforcement/amp/
- Eyes On ICE, “No Vacancy for Raids: How Austin Leaders Are Using Private Property Rights to Shut Down ICE Staging Grounds” (Nov. 14, 2026) — https://www.eyesonice.net/p/no-vacancy-for-raids-how-austin-leaders
- CBS Austin, “Austin Mayor Kirk Watson calls for changes to APD immigration enforcement policy” — https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/austin-mayor-kirk-watson-calls-for-changes-to-apd-immigration-enforcement-policy
- Gothamist, “Mamdani and 100+ NY officials urge parking lot owners to ban ICE” (Oct. 16, 2026) — https://gothamist.com/news/mamdani-and-100-ny-officials-urge-parking-lot-owners-to-ban-ice
- Associated Press via ABC News, “New York Democrats want parking lot owners to ban ICE from their properties” — https://abcnews.com/Politics/wireStory/new-york-democrats-parking-lot-owners-ban-ice-137325619
- Bronx Times, “Bronx officials urge Marble Hill Target owners to ban ICE from parking lot after Oscar Belgal shooting” — https://www.bxtimes.com/bronx-officials-urge-target-developers-to-ban-ice/
- DHS spokesperson statement and letter details as provided in the original report.
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The joint investigation, launched by Elgin police in March 2026, tracked a spree of break-ins that netted an estimated 1,000 stolen circuit breakers across the region.
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Crews are actively building the pump station facility and finishing assembly of the massive tunnel boring machines before underground digging begins.
(Video: Drop In Austin via Facebook)
WEATHER
SATURDAY’S HIGH / LOW TEMPERATURES
AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
CAMP MABRY
SATURDAY’S PRECIPITATION TOTALS
The airport saw record rainfall Saturday, measuring 0.91 inches, besting the old record of 0.87 set in 1998.
Almost the same amount of rain was recorded at Camp Mabry, but it fell short of the record.
WEATHER STAT
Thousands of Texas grocery shoppers got an unexpected break at the register Saturday as H-E-B distributed $1 million in gift cards across its stores statewide. (My San Antonio via MSN)
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Incoming Railroad Commissioner Jon Rosenthal also spelled out his agenda:
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Democratic state Senator Roland Gutierrez tells us about the bill he filed that would give Texas families $1,500 and how casino gambling and marijuana could help pay for it and other priorities.
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(Episode from November 14, 2026)
TEXAS TOP TEN MOST WANTED – NOVEMBER 2026
DIESEL PRICES
AAA GAS PRICES
SPORTS
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Arch Manning connected with Raleek Brown on a 4-yard touchdown pass with three seconds remaining to lift No. 8/8/6 Texas over No. 24/22/14 LSU, 22-21, in front of 102,321 fans at Tiger Stadium on Saturday evening. (Texas Longhorns)
With the result, the Longhorns (8-2, 5-2 SEC) boast a nation-leading five victories over opponents ranked in the most recent College Football Playoff Top 25. Texas has now won 15 of its last 16 November games under head coach Steve Sarkisian, dating back to 2022.
The Longhorns’ latest game-winning score in regulation in seven years capped off an 11-point second-half comeback and secured Texas its first victory in Death Valley since 1952.
Sarkisian’s squad converted all four of its trips to the red zone, with Manning completing six of eight passes for 51 yards and rushing for 10 yards on the game-winning drive.
Can Texas ride this cardiac energy all the way to a College Football Playoff spot?
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21
TEXAS A&M / TEXAS TECH
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The Texas Longhorns face the Baylor Bears on today (2 p.m. CT/ESPN) at Frost Bank Center.
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The Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets all see action today.
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WSJ’s Becky Peterson and Sean O’Kane explain what went wrong with Musk’s polarizing pickup.
