The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office wants additional state dollars to support its collaboration with federal immigration authorities.
On Feb. 10, the GOP-majority of the county commissioners approved applying for the Sheriff Immigration Law Enforcement Grant Program, a new Texas grant designed to help local departments partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in identifying undocumented immigrants.
“Some of you will say, ‘I hate ICE.’ … Maybe you have that right to do that,” County Judge Tim O’Hare said before voting in favor. “But at the end of the day, what this does is protect every single community, regardless of neighborhood status, socioeconomic status or anything else.”
Republicans on the court — O’Hare and commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez — voted in favor of submitting the application, while Democratic commissioners Roderick Miles Jr. and Alisa Simmons voted against.
The approval came after about 20 residents urged commissioners to oppose the measure, arguing that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and further enlisting local law enforcement for such work would damage public trust.
“This isn’t politics only to me,” speaker Brooke Bright told commissioners.
Bright spoke about being a “very proud mom to a mixed-race daughter and a very proud tia to a young niece.” The joy she usually feels for having a diverse family is “shadowed by fear” amid reports of ICE detainments, she said.
“These are the things and names I think about every time I see an article, I read a headline or I hear a siren,” she said.
Some argued that the grant amount was not enough for a county of Tarrant’s size, with its 2.2 million residents, to even consider applying.
Two residents were removed during the discussion on the proposal. One yelled, “Tell that to Renee Good,” referring to the woman who was fatally shot by a federal immigration agent in Minnesota amid protests over increased ICE presence in that state last month.
A third person was removed for saying, “O’Hare we go again” after the county judge called a meeting recess mid-argument with Simmons.
If awarded the grant, Tarrant County would receive $140,000 to reimburse payroll and administrative functions over a two-year period.
The application comes about a month after a new state law went into effect requiring Texas county sheriff’s offices to cooperate with ICE through the so-called 287(g) program.
As of Tuesday, the Tarrant County jail has 388 inmates from 25 different countries who have an ICE detainer, Lt. Jennifer Gabbert told commissioners.
The program allows local law enforcement officers to screen the immigration status of those they book into jail. ICE officials then detain those who are undocumented.
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the county jail that most local police departments use, opted into the 287(g) program in 2017 shortly after Sheriff Bill Waybourn took office.
Established by the Texas Comptroller’s Office this year, the grant program gives dollars to local sheriff departments to cover any costs associated with the 287(g) program not reimbursed by the federal government.
That includes officers’ duties under the agreement, required reporting and administrative functions, equipment, repair, mandatory training and costs used to keep inmates with an ICE detainer in custody.
Speaker Tanner Trask said the grant amount is not enough to justify the application, adding that he’d like to see Tarrant County “rip up our 287(g) agreement” and fight the state’s requirement to cooperate with ICE. He referenced several American citizens killed by federal immigration officers across the country in recent months.
“Is that all that we’re getting to see — the next Renee Good or Alex Pretti or Keith Porter or Marie Blaise to die in the streets of Tarrant County?” Trask told commissioners. “I don’t want Tarrant County, our residents, to be sold out at all, for any price, but it feels like we could get more than $140,000.”
The amount of money a county is eligible for is based on population:
- $80,000 in counties with populations of less than 100,000.
- $100,000 in counties with populations of at least 100,000 and fewer than 500,000.
- $120,000 in counties with populations of at least 500,000 and fewer than 1,000,000.
- $140,000 in counties with populations of 1 million or more.
State Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, of North Richland Hills, announced the launch of the Sheriff Immigration Law Enforcement Grant Program in January during a press conference in Fort Worth with Waybourn and O’ Hare.
“Public safety starts with enforcing the law,” Hancock said in a press release announcing the program. “This program supports sheriffs as they work with immigration authorities to remove criminal offenders, maintain order and keep Texas communities safe.”
Krause noted that county sheriffs are legally required to partner with ICE. He applauded the sheriff’s office in “doing its role” by arresting criminals and cooperating with federal authorities.
“Everybody in here, regardless of which aisle you’re on, your ideology or your viewpoint, we all want to make sure that our communities are safe, that we’re making sure that each citizen is safe in their own home,” Krause said. “I think that’s exactly what this program is doing.
Simmons argued the grant “does nothing to meaningfully address actual violent crime.”
Accepting state dollars to fund ICE collaboration would harm public trust in local law enforcement and disproportionately harm Black and brown residents, she said.
“What this is to me: Folks want to pick people up that look like me, that look like Commissioner Ramirez and get them out of here,” Simmons said.
What is 287(g)?
The 287(g) program allows ICE to identify whether inmates at county jails charged with “high misdemeanors and felonies” are undocumented. If someone is identified as such, an ICE detainer and warrant are placed on the individual.
This partnership only applies to those already in custody. It does not enforce immigration laws on the street, according to a brochure from the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff deputies or police officers selected to have “ICE immigration authority” must complete a four-week basic training program.
Municipal police departments may opt into 287(g) but are not required to.
Keller, which operates its own jail, is the only municipal police department in Tarrant County to join 287(g), according to public ICE records as of Feb. 10. Keller police have detained at least a dozen undocumented immigrants since opting in in August.
Last summer, five of 11 Fort Worth City Council members told the Fort Worth Report they were not considering joining the 287(g) program. Since then, the body has not publicly deliberated such a partnership.
People across the nation have pushed back on the stepped-up immigration efforts since President Donald Trump took office last year.
Several communities protested ICE’s presence in major cities, while some government officials call it a federal overreach. Other Texas leaders, including Attorney General Ken Paxton, have supported the agency’s increased efforts.
In recent weeks, students across Tarrant County walked out of schools as part of a national demonstration against ICE.
Hutchins city leaders met last week to discuss a proposed ICE facility that’s been opposed by residents and some state lawmakers. Federal officials plan to establish a 1 million-square-foot detention center in the North Texas town that would house up to 9,500 migrants.
Penelope Rivera is KERA’s Tarrant County Accountability Reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
