Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson says he supports the city council's decision not to partner police with ICE on immigration enforcement.
In a statement Friday, Johnson said that there was still confusion over how the program would work fiscally for the city and operationally for DPD.
Johnson’s comments came weeks after he called for a joint committee meeting to discuss and reconsider joining the program after it was turned down by Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux.
The Public Safety and Government Efficiency committees met Thursday to discuss the program and unanimously voted to postpone reconsideration of the program "indefinitely,” meaning it will not go in front of the whole council.
Johnson was not at the meeting.
"While we should always be willing to discuss ways we can cooperate with our federal law enforcement partners to make our communities safer, we cannot afford to stray from our public safety strategies that have led to a remarkable five-straight years of violent crime reduction in Dallas," Johnson said in his statement.
The ICE 287(g) task force program uses local and state police officers for immigration enforcement.
Under 287(g), a trained officer would conduct their day-to-day department tasks. If they saw probable cause that someone was undocumented, such as during a traffic stop, they could conduct immigration enforcement.
Comeaux told 13 of the 14 council members present during Thursday's meeting that detaining, transporting, and booking a suspected undocumented person could take DPD officers off the street and impact its already high response times.
Several council members and dozens of residents said the program would damage trust between officers and the residents they serve.
Both council members and residents commented on Johnson's absence from the meeting he called.
Council Member Adam Bazaldua said he was "deeply disturbed" by Johnson's call to reconsider the program.
"Let's be clear: This is not about safety," Bazaldua said. "This about politics being played at the expense of people's lives."
Johnson said he wanted the council to consider the potential financial benefits the program could bring to the city.
In his memo to committee chairs sent last month, Johnson also said the program might provide additional avenues for taking and keeping criminals off the streets.
"Decisions on matters like this—especially one involving $25 million of public funds—should be made by elected policymakers after receiving public input," Johnson said in his memo.
The $25 million offered by ICE would have been reimbursement money. ICE officers told council members that it would only go toward the time an officer was enforcing immigration and it would not pay for their salary and benefits.
Thursday's joint committee meeting took nearly six hours. It ultimately resulted in the same decision Comeaux made, which was approved by City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert who runs the day-to-day city operations.
"Based on our chain of command, it is something I knew about, I supported, and I agreed," Tolbert said.
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