A coalition of about a dozen immigration rights groups gathered in front of Dallas City Hall Friday morning to send a message to Mayor Eric Johnson and city officials: keep ICE out of Dallas.
The groups are urging the city not to sign onto the federal 287(g) program, under which local law enforcement partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Recently, Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said he rejected $25 million to partner with ICE.
Johnson later said the chief did not have the authority to make the decision and requested a joint meeting between the city's Public Safety and Government Efficiency committees to discuss joining the program. Eleven council members have sent joint statements opposing the request.
Ramiro Luna, executive director for Somos Tejas, said a 287(g) contract would function as “a weapon pointed at communities of color.”
“Our immigrant community is in the DNA of this city, from the roads that you drove to drive here, paved by immigrants, to the office that you're driving towards work, built by immigrants,” Luna said during Friday’s news conference.
Luna said next steps for the groups include forming a North Texas Immigration Coalition to formalize partnership into a collective “because when they attack one of us, they attack all of us,” he said.
More than 30 Dallas groups signed a joint statement urging the city council to reject the 287(g) ICE partnership.
The statement, sent via email to KERA by the grassroots organization El Movimiento, includes a list of demands asking that DPD not enter into an agreement with ICE, that such a decision should be undertaken with a public hearing and input of the Office of Community Police Oversight, and that Dallas implement measures to protect noncitizens and mixed status families.
Sheriff’s offices in neighboring Rockwall and Tarrant counties have signed 287(g) agreements with ICE.
Fear is already rampant in the community without an agreement with ICE, said Anita Nunez with the Workers Defense Action Fund.
Community members and organizations have documented immigration agents arresting people at work sites, she said. She told KERA at the news conference that she fears it would become worse if DPD partnered with ICE.
“ICE is trying to pick immigrants up wherever they can and that's exactly why we need to not sign this agreement with ICE,” she said. “We need to focus on what makes our city safe."
Tiara Cooper, the executive director of In Defense of Black Lives, said immigration enforcement is an issue that impacts not only Latino communities, but all communities of color. “We reject this agreement,” she said.
She said the decisions made now will have a long-term impact not only locally but nationally.
“So we say, ‘not on our watch,’” she said. “We are willing to defend and do whatever is needed and necessary to protect our communities.”
This message to local officials comes as ICE is ramping up efforts in Northwest Dallas and Farmers Branch.
A joint statement by Farmers Branch city council member Elizabeth Villafranca and Texas state Reps. Rafael Anchia and Cassandra Hernandez, said they were notified by a credible source that ICE is increasing its presence in their community.
“The U.S. Constitution protects everyone in Texas, regardless of status,” read the statement.
Dallas’ Public Safety and Government Efficiency Committees will hold a joint meeting to discuss partnering with ICE on Nov. 6.
The groups that showed up to the news conference outside Dallas city hall indicated they would be showing up to an upcoming special called joint meeting of the public safety and government efficiency committees on Nov. 6.
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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