PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — A protest was held Saturday afternoon outside a possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility near Highway 130 and Highway 45 in Pflugerville.
Dozens of people showed up, at times chanting, with signs in hand demanding change. Two Department of Homeland Security officers and their patrol cars sat outside the facility.
“The Party for Socialism and Liberation was first informed of this facility [in October 2024] by community members who saw the facility under construction,” co-organizer Peishi Cheng said.
The PSL organized the protest, claiming that the building on Algreg Street is a future holding place for ICE detainees. The organizers also claim to have photos of what it looks like inside.
“A sign next to the door said ‘weapon storage,'” Cheng explained. “[The photos] showed cells with toilets and sort of like a concrete bench. We also saw a room that was labeled ‘interviews,’ which we interpret as an interrogation room.”
The protest remained mostly peaceful until a counter-protester arrived, walking up and down the street with a megaphone. At certain points, exchanges between him and those who came to protest, became intense.
Despite the frequent interruptions, organizers still had their voices heard.
“We are not here to compare one administration to the other,” co-organizer Scarleth Lopez said. “The racist, sexist, anti-immigration regiment of terror is not just the work of one administration.”
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Outside a possible ICE facility for detainees in Pflugerville. (KXAN) -
Outside a possible ICE facility for detainees in Pflugerville. (KXAN) -
Outside a possible ICE facility for detainees in Pflugerville. (KXAN) -
Outside a possible ICE facility for detainees in Pflugerville. (KXAN) -
Outside a possible ICE facility for detainees in Pflugerville. (KXAN) -
Outside a possible ICE facility for detainees in Pflugerville. (KXAN)
Attendees who KXAN spoke with said they were frustrated by what’s unfolding there and across the nation.
“Everyone has a right to be here. Whether it’s a man, a woman, a child, everyone has a right to be here,” said Maurika Smith, who drove from Austin to attend.
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian pastor Jim Rigby also spoke to the crowd.
“We must work together from this day on until the stain of for-profit incarceration of human beings is purged from our city,” he said.
PSL said it now plans to focus its efforts on making sure people know their rights.
“What I think is different in a lot of cases is that people are waking up to the realization that they have the ability to fight back,” one man told KXAN.
KXAN has reached out to DHS and ICE for updates on what’s happening inside the building. This story will be updated if requests for comment are returned.