AUSTIN (KXAN) — A downtown Austin federal building is being used as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainment center, a high-level source with knowledge of immigration enforcement actions confirmed to KXAN.
Previous: ICE conducts ‘enhanced targeted operations’ in Austin J.J. Pickle Federal Building (Source: U.S. General Services Administration)Detained immigrants who may be deported are being housed at the J.J. Pickle Federal Building on East 8th Street, about a mile from city hall and a half mile from the Capitol, where protesters gathered over the weekend. About two dozen people have been held here since Sunday, the source said. That is when ICE began conducting "enhanced targeted operations" in Austin as part of a nationwide effort.
The building houses offices for ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and the district office for Congressman Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, his office said.
"I don't have specifics on it," Doggett said at a news conference Wednesday after being told what KXAN learned. "They do have a holding facility in the basement there but I do not get notice of ICE actions or those they apprehend. My concern is that everyone who is here ... is aware of what their rights are."
This same building has previously been used to detain immigrants in 2017 and 2018, according to published reports.
KXAN has reached out to ICE, Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Austin Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The building was named after Democratic Congressman J.J. "Jake" Pickle and housed offices for President Lyndon Baines Johnson during and after his presidency. It is part of a two-block complex of federal buildings in downtown Austin, according to the U.S. General Services Administration.
This is a developing story.
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