{"id":360835,"date":"2025-11-06T23:10:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T23:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/360835\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T23:10:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T23:10:18","slug":"dallas-city-council-formally-rejects-25m-ice-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/360835\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas City Council Formally Rejects $25M ICE Partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux told the City Council on Thursday that the $25 million partnership offered by the U.S. Immigration and Customs<\/a> Enforcement Agency (ICE) would have required the department to arrest at least 50 undocumented immigrants each day to receive payment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Comeaux stated that the quota was shared with him during a phone call conversation about the program, although a representative from ICE denied that the initiative comes with an arrest requirement. In October, Comeaux told the Community Police Oversight Board that he\u2019d rejected a $25 million offer for the Dallas Police Department to join the 297(g) program, which grants local law enforcement authorities jurisdiction over federal immigration<\/a> enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In response, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson called for a joint hearing between the Public Safety and Government Efficiency Committees, suggesting that policy decisions, especially those that come<\/a> with a paycheck, should be made by \u201celected policymakers after receiving public input.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Addressing the committees on Thursday afternoon, Comeaux defended his decision by stating that a 287(g) partnership would \u201cmake no sense\u201d for Dallas because the program would require as many as 250 DPD officers to be reassigned from their regular duties to take over ICE responsibilities \u201call day every day.\u201d Comeaux said that such a change in personnel would have ramifications on 911 response times, community engagement and drops in violent crime. <\/p>\n

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He told council members that a 287(g) partnership would result in hundreds of Dallas Police officers spending their days traveling to fast food restaurants and hardware stores \u201ctrying to find illegal immigrants to meet [ICE\u2019s] quota\u201d rather than carrying out local law enforcement duties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Comeaux also voiced fiscal concerns, stating that while the 287(g) program reimburses regular hours worked by officers who participate in the partnership, it would not cover the overtime hours required to staff positions left vacant by officers focusing on immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sat back, I looked at all of the great things that are happening in Dallas, and it\u2019s not the program for us. It is not going to make Dallas any safer,\u201d Comeaux said. \u201cThis program would not help us in any kind of way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIf you have no interpretation of the Constitution, I don\u2019t know how you\u2019re supposed to sit there and sell us on a program that has wreaked havoc across communities.\u201d <\/p>\n

council member Adam Bazaldua<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Public comments revealed that many Dallasites were upset by the potential partnership. Nearly 70 speakers emphasized that such an agreement would be detrimental to the public\u2019s trust in local law enforcement.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not just about business or politics; this is about community,\u201d said speaker Martha Luis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Several referred to the $25 million offered by ICE as \u201cblood money,\u201d and suggested that the bolstering of the Dallas Police Department\u2019s funding in the latest city budget rendered that money unnecessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are actively getting kidnapped by ICE while they are trying to do the right thing,\u201d said Jerry Figueroa, an Oak Cliff business owner. \u201cLet\u2019s not forget that this country is made of immigrants. My blood has been here for 20,000 years, so who is more American?\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n

In an interview with CBS News, Johnson said he wanted \u201cto understand what exactly it is that we are being asked to do by ICE.\u201d However, several speakers expressed frustration that the mayor was not present during the meeting. While the mayor does not typically attend committee gatherings, some speakers felt that his attendance at the joint meeting would have been appropriate.\u00a0Council member Jaime Resendez rebuked Johnson\u2019s call for the meeting, accusing the mayor of engaging in \u201creckless, self-serving leadership,\u201d and \u201cpolitical provocation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other speakers criticized his record on immigration, stating their belief that Johnson\u2019s interest in considering the 287(g) program was more political than financial. Last November, Johnson appeared on Fox News and expressed his support<\/a> for President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown, stating that Dallas officials would \u201cstand by\u201d the president.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am disappointed but not surprised that Mayor Johnson did not grace us with his presence,\u201d said speaker Micaela Watkins. \u201cEric Johnson wants to be accepted by the [Trump] administration. He is not here today because he is already planning his next move.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 287(g) Program\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In June, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 8,\u00a0which will require sheriff\u2019s departments in counties with more than 100,000 residents<\/a>\u00a0to enter into a 287(g) agreement. The program deputizes local law enforcement officers to perform immigration enforcement actions, such as checking whether a person is actively wanted by ICE or inquiring about a person\u2019s immigration status. The Dallas Police Department does not currently ask for immigration status when interacting with community members.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Representatives for ICE disagreed with Comeaux\u2019s characterization of the program, arguing that an officer would be encouraged to go about their daily duties. An example of program involvement given was if an officer performed a traffic stop and was handed a foreign ID, they would check with ICE to see if that person was \u201cof interest.\u201d If so, that officer would be instructed to make an arrest and transport the person to the Dallas ICE field office.\u00a0<\/a> <\/p>\n

The representatives for ICE stated that they \u201cwere not involved\u201d in conversations where a $25 million figure was mentioned and had \u201cnever heard of a quota\u201d being part of the 287(g) program. (Based on conversation at the horseshoe, it appears the $25 million total would come only if every DPD officer participated in the program, which would be unrealistic if the city decided to move forward with a partnership.)<\/p>\n

Additional confusion and frustration came when several council members\u2019 questions about the constitutionality of the program went unanswered.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have no interpretation of the Constitution, I don\u2019t know how you\u2019re supposed to sit there and sell us on a program that has wreaked havoc across communities,\u201d said council member Adam Bazaldua.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI sat back, I looked at all of the great things that are happening in Dallas, and it\u2019s not the program for us. It is not going to make Dallas any safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dallas Police chief daniel comeaux<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Only six public speakers voiced support for DPD joining the 287(g) program. Many pointed to a September incident, in which an undocumented immigrant beheaded a Dallas motel manager,<\/a> as evidence that unenforced immigration is a public safety concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The claim that immigrants can be tied to crime waves gained traction in the 1980s and has become a rallying argument for conservatives, but research suggests that undocumented people commit crimes at a lower rate than U.S. citizens. Looking at 2019 data from Texas, the CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank, <\/a>found that undocumented immigrants were 37.1% less likely to be convicted of a crime than someone born in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The left] will call this racist, but let\u2019s be clear. This isn\u2019t about race, it\u2019s about rights,\u201d said Bogdan Laurentiu, a Romanian immigrant and conservative commentator who voiced support for a 287(g) partnership. \u201cThe rights of Americans to feel safe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the most part, council members voiced support for Comeaux\u2019s decision not to participate in a 287(g) partnership and took pride in the number of residents who attended to speak on the issue. Council member Gay Donnell Willis said it was \u201cthe first time\u201d she\u2019d ever seen \u201cspeakers from every district\u201d sign up to speak on a single issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The council voted unanimously not to pursue a partnership with ICE through the 287(g) program and motioned to suspend the discussion indefinitely, so that it cannot be revisited at a full City Council meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be uncomfortable, personally, trying to represent a community that is afraid,\u201d said council member Lorie Blair. \u201cI appreciate that [Comeaux] did not put me, or any other part of our city, in that predicament. \u2026 I appreciate that he wants unity and not division.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux told the City Council on Thursday that the $25 million partnership offered by…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":360836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,409,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-360835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-immigration","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-tx","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115505281322960322","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}