Dallas City Council members criticized Mayor Eric Johnson’s push to explore a potential partnership between the Dallas Police Department (DPD) and federal immigration authorities, calling the plan a threat to public trust.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Mayor Johnson is pressing City Council to reconsider a $25 million offer from federal immigration authorities that Police Chief Daniel Comeaux rejected — a move that underscores how Dallas continues to lag behind the voter-mandated police staffing and pay standards established by Proposition U.
Six council members released statements over the weekend rejecting Johnson’s proposal for DPD to consider joining Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) program, according to the Dallas Observer, which named Chad West, Paula Blackmon, Adam Bazaldua, and Jaime Resendez among them. The initiative allows local law enforcement agencies to help enforce federal immigration laws.
During a Community Police Oversight Board meeting last week, Comeaux told attendees that DPD declined a $25 million offer to participate in the program. “We have not entered into a partnership with ICE,” Comeaux said, explaining that immigration enforcement remains a federal responsibility.
Johnson responded in a Friday memorandum to Council Members Cara Mendelsohn and Maxie Johnson, who chair the city’s Public Safety and Government Efficiency committees. He instructed them to hold a joint meeting with ICE officials and Comeaux to assess whether the program could benefit Dallas.
“Clearly, participation in ICE’s Task Force Model could provide significant financial benefits to the city,” Johnson wrote. “The Dallas Police Department could use these funds to, for example, hire additional officers with no impact on the city’s budget. Therefore, I am now asking your committees to explore the potential benefits of participating in the 287(g) program.”
Johnson also questioned whether Comeaux should have made the decision to reject ICE’s offer without City Council input, saying that DPD’s involvement could help keep “violent criminals off our streets.”
By Saturday, several council members had voiced opposition. Chad West, Paula Blackmon, Adam Bazaldua, and Jaime Resendez issued a joint statement saying the 287(g) program “would turn local law enforcement into an arm of federal immigration enforcement.”
“Safer communities are built through trust and connection,” the statement read. “DPD participating in this program would certainly undermine progress made.”
The council members added that immigration policies “will have implications long past the current administration” and reaffirmed their commitment to “humanity and public safety.”
Council Members Jesse Moreno and Laura Cadena also released a joint statement Sunday evening expressing similar opposition, emphasizing that immigration enforcement should remain a federal responsibility. They encouraged residents to share feedback with city officials to ensure that “community input remains at the center of decisions that affect our city.”
The Public Safety and Government Efficiency committees have not yet scheduled the meeting requested by the mayor.