Immigration

Austin leaders urge parking lot owners to lock ICE out of their lots

Austin, Texas • November 13, 2026 • By Press Pass USA

The Austin, Texas skyline at sunset over Lady Bird Lake

File photo: Austin skyline

Sixteen of Austin's elected officials sent an open letter Friday urging the owners of parking lots and garages across the Texas capital to prohibit federal immigration agents from using their properties as staging grounds for enforcement operations — after agents used private lots without permission to launch raids.

The letter is led by U.S. Representative Greg Casar and signed by U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, Travis County Judge Andy Brown, eight Austin City Council members, three Travis County commissioners and Texas State Representative Lulu Flores. It asks owners to commit to banning ICE from their lots and to make that prohibition clear to the agency.

Last month, Casar's office was notified that ICE had used Austin parking lots as staging areas for transporting immigrants to detention and deportation centers in at least two instances. In one case, investigators from local station KXAN witnessed detainees being moved out of a secluded lot at a northeast Austin business park — and the property owner said the agency was never authorized to use the lot. The Department of Homeland Security has defended the operations as lawful.

"ICE is making Austin less safe. Kids are scared to go to school, parents are scared to go to work, and crime victims are even scared to talk to police," Casar said. "I am urging owners and operators of parking lots in Austin to not rent or lend your property to ICE for these operations."

The officials chose a direct appeal to property owners rather than a city ordinance, which would invite a preemption fight with the state. Their letter points to what happened elsewhere when lots became staging grounds: "We have seen in cities like New York how using lots for staging can directly lead to horrific violence."

The letter also cites a recent surge in enforcement across the Austin area, including arrests outside churches and food pantries, the deportation of a five-year-old child, and the non-fatal shooting of 28-year-old Venezuelan delivery driver Wilber Garcés Pérez by an ICE agent during a traffic stop in North Austin on September 20.

The Department of Homeland Security has pushed back on the officials' appeal, defending its staging tactics as routine and dismissing the idea that property owners have a role in where federal agents operate.

Sources: KVUE, "Congressman Greg Casar, Austin leaders urge parking lot owners to prohibit ICE from using properties for staging" by Britny Eubank and Daniel Perreault (Nov. 13, 2026); KXAN, "Officials urge Austin parking lot owners to prohibit ICE" by Matt Grant (Nov. 13, 2026); Office of U.S. Representative Greg Casar, "NEWS: Casar, Mayor Watson, Judge Brown, Austin Electeds Urge Austin Parking Lot Owners to Prohibit ICE Stagings" (Nov. 13, 2026, full text verified).