Dallas City Council members are pushing back on Mayor Eric Johnson's request for the city to reconsider joining the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 287(g) program.
The 287(g) program allows ICE to collaborate with state and local law enforcement in the arrest and deportation of immigrants.
Police Chief Daniel Comeaux told the Community Police Oversight Board last week that he turned down $25 million to let the department join the program.
Now Johnson says that money could "provide significant financial benefits to the city" and has requested a joint meeting between the city's Public Safety and Government Efficiency committees to discuss joining the program.
"As the elected body charged with setting City policy and overseeing its budget, the City Council should be briefed on all the relevant information that went into Chief Comeaux’s decision in a public meeting and with an opportunity for input from residents," Johnson said in a memo.
Johnson's memo was sent to the council members who chair those committees. Public Safety Chair Cara Mendelsohn did not respond to request for comment. Government Efficiency Chair Maxie Johnson said in an email that he would save his comments for the meeting.
But other members of the Dallas City Council say immigration enforcement should be left to the federal government, not the local police.
Council members Chad West, Adam Bazaldua, Jaime Resendez, and Paula Blackmon said in a joint statement that joining the program would "undermine progress" made in building trust between the police department and residents.
"We remain concerned with the practices being deployed by ICE agents through federal directives," the council members said in a joint statement. "The 287(g) program would turn local law enforcement into an arm of federal immigration enforcement and could result in a betrayal of trust between the Dallas Police Department and the very communities they are sworn to protect."
Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Moreno and Council Member Laura Cadena said in a separate joint statement that immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government.
"Local law enforcement agencies, including ours, are committed to maintaining trust with the communities we serve — trust that is essential to effective policing and public safety for all residents," Moreno and Cadena said in the statement.
Both Moreno and Cadena encouraged residents to contact elected officials to share concerns, experiences, and perspectives to ensure community input remained at the center of the discussion.
Building trust
Comeaux told the Police Oversight Board that transparency and community engagement are among his priorities.
Board member Jenny King, who represents District 10, said last week that some residents are fearful and distrustful of the police.
Community engagement initiatives to educate business owners and residents on ways to stay safe and prevent crime are part of the work Comeaux wants Dallas police to do. That includes keeping neighborhood police officers, or NPOs, who engage with community members to handle causes of crime in their neighborhood.
But Police Oversight Board members say residents remain fearful because of social media posts showing local police departments working with ICE in other cities.
The shooting at a Dallas ICE facility last month — which left two detained people dead and one injured — sent additional fear through the local migrant community and raised concerns by advocates at a time when they are already fearful of being targeted due to anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Dallas police are required to cooperate with federal agencies, Comeaux said, but so far, they have not been asked to assist.
"We don't need that attention, we don't want to deal with that smoke," Comeaux said during the board meeting. "So I don't understand why we're doing this when nothing has happened."
Budget concerns
Police pay was one concern during this year's budget season, with Mendelsohn saying the pay was not competitive.
Several Dallas residents were also concerned the now-approved salary rate did not comply with Proposition U.
Prop U, which was voter-approved last year, requires the city to spend no less than 50% of new, annual revenue to fund the police and fire pension. It also mandates that the city increase the number of sworn police officers to a minimum of 4,000, which the department has not yet met.
The ICE 287(g) program fully reimburses participating agencies for the annual salary and benefits of each eligible officer in the program. This includes overtime coverage up to 25% of the officer's annual salary.
Mayor Johnson said DPD could use the funds toward hiring more officers with no impact on the budget.
"Dallas might be forfeiting significant direct financial benefits by declining ICE’s offer," Johnson said.
Got a tip? Email Megan Cardona at mcardona@kera.org.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you!
