No, ICE was not making arrests in Ingram, Kerrville

A routine regional law enforcement and school safety planning meeting may have helped start an inadvertent panic on Wednesday that federal immigration officials were removing students from class.

However, no such thing happened, but it caused Ingram Independent School District Superintendent Robert Templeton to make a statement debunking the rumors. “This meeting stems from our efforts to make our campuses safe by working together regionally,” Templeton said. “We had a good day.”

The meeting occurred at Ingram Tom Moore High School and involved law enforcement agencies across Kerr County and the state. However, that didn’t stop online speculation that immigration agents were making raids. One Kerrville news Facebook group posted on Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in Kerrville, which started a stampede of online comments and speculation.

The rumors come amid heightened immigration enforcement activity nationwide. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reports show significant enforcement operations across the country, with 969 arrests and 869 immigration detainers lodged on January 28 alone. Over a six-day period from January 23-28, ICE conducted 4,521 arrests nationwide.

The situation highlights ongoing tensions between local and federal law enforcement regarding immigration enforcement. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar recently clarified his department’s position during a KSAT 12 News interview from Washington D.C., stating that while his office would assist federal agents with criminal warrants, they would not participate in general immigration enforcement operations.

“If they asked, if they have a criminal warrant in hand, then I believe we’re duty-bound to help at that point,” Salazar said. “But if it’s just a fishing expedition — which I’m assured they’re not going on fishing expeditions, but if it’s a fishing expedition of some sort — we have no interest in doing anything like that. Our relationship with the community is more important than that.”

Recent ICE enforcement actions have focused on individuals with serious criminal charges. Between January 15-25, the agency reported several high-profile arrests, including gang members and individuals wanted for violent crimes. These arrests spanned multiple jurisdictions, from Boston to California, and included the apprehension of suspects wanted for crimes ranging from weapons violations to sexual offenses.

The heightened enforcement activity comes as President Trump recently issued an executive order directing the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. The order aims to provide additional detention space for “high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States.”

Despite the increased national enforcement activity, local officials maintain that Wednesday’s meeting in Ingram was solely focused on routine school safety planning. Superintendent Templeton emphasized that the day proceeded normally, with no immigration enforcement actions taking place at any school facilities.