After rejecting a $25 million deal with ICE, Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux claimed the partnership would bring “no value at all.”
Comeaux defended his decision against partnering with ICE in a joint hearing of the Dallas Public Safety Committee and Government Efficiency Committee on November 6.
As The Dallas Express reported, Comeaux recently rejected a $25 million partnership with ICE under the 287(g) program, which gives funding and immigration authority to local police.
“Can you explain to me if there would be any value for us to be involved in this 287(g) program?” asked Councilman Bill Roth.
“I see no value at all for us to be involved in this program,” Comeaux replied.
Council members did not take action during the hearing, but collected feedback for a vote on November 12, explained Government Efficiency Committee Chair Maxie Johnson.
“We recognize this topic brings strong emotions and different viewpoints, but our purpose here is to gather information, listen with respect, and ensure transparency on how decisions are made that affect our city residents,” Johnson said.
The Department of Homeland Security’s 287(g) program grants federal immigration-enforcement authority to local police and reimburses them for their assistance, as The Dallas Express reported.
The DHS announced new funding through the program, effective October 1. ICE offered to fully reimburse participating agencies for the annual salary and benefits of each officer trained in the program, and to award bonuses for finding wanted criminal aliens.
After Comeaux rejected the funding, Mayor Eric Johnson asked the council to reconsider the $25 million deal with ICE, as reported by The Dallas Express.
This comes as Dallas’ budget lags behind the police pay and staffing requirements outlined in Proposition U, which voters passed in November 2024. The department has been struggling to meet the legal requirement of 4,000 sworn officers.
“If you want to be about the money, and just say $25 million – well, now I have to backfill those officers that would be working this 287(g) program,” Comeaux said. “It makes no sense even financially, because now you’re upside down.”
Comeaux also said Dallas police are narrowing response times, another reason he declined the ICE partnership.
“This program would not help us in any kind of way, especially when I was hired and I was told one of the most important things was to get response times down,” Comeaux said.
Officers are responding to top-priority emergencies in about 10 minutes and 46 seconds on average, month-to-date, according to the November 6 response time report. This is down from 12 minutes and 21 seconds per day last year. It is also the fastest rate so far this year, but still short of the 8-minute goal.
“They’re not where we want them to be, I will admit that in front of anyone,” Comeaux said. “We want to be better, we will get better, but they’re going down every single month right now.”
Comeaux said if he had to reassign 250 officers to immigration duties, it would raise response times. “I would have to take officers from patrol to allow them to be in patrol cars to conduct these immigration activities.”
During the meeting, ICE-Dallas Officer Ivey stated that the agency would reimburse police for “immigration activities that are conducted during their normal duties.”
Comeaux said he feels Dallas police are already in a “really good position.” He said violent crime is down by more than 10%, with homicides down by 22%, and expressed concern about community relations.
“We’re working extremely hard to build trust in the community – not only in the community, but to reduce violent crime,” he said. “We’ve been very aggressive on crime from day one of me arriving.”
Comeaux said that from day one in office, he ensured the Dallas police would assist federal partners in accordance with city policy. He also highlighted the department’s collaboration with federal task forces.
“But we have a lane being a local police department, and the federal has a lane being federal law enforcement,” he said. “I looked at all of the great things that are happening in Dallas, and it’s not the program for us.”
‘A Busy Field Office’
Public Safety Committee Chair Cara Mendelsohn asked Officer Frances, with ICE-Dallas, how Dallas rates in terms of immigration activity compared to the rest of Texas.
“I’m comfortable with saying that Dallas is a busy field office,” Frances said.
While ICE-Dallas also oversees Oklahoma, Frances said the region has a “high” level of activity.
In October, a Mexican illegal alien in Dallas was arrested after soliciting hitmen to kill ICE agents for $10,000 each, as The Dallas Express reported. In September, a sniper attacked the Dallas ICE facility, aiming to murder federal agents, killing two detainees and wounding another.
The Denton County Sheriff’s Office and Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office are among dozens of agencies in Texas that work with ICE through the 287(g) program, as The Dallas Express reported.
Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn initially joined the 287(g) program after he took office in 2017, according to KERA.
“Sheriff Waybourn believes people who are in this country illegally can pose a threat to the safety of this nation,” said Public Information Officer Robbie Hoy to The Dallas Express.
In Tarrant County, the 287(g) program only applies within the walls of the county jail, according to Hoy.
“When we are booking an inmate and receive notification they have an ICE detainer hold, we notify ICE,” he said. “The inmate remains in our custody until ICE can pick them up – usually within 48 hours.”
“No law enforcement services are affected by our participation,” Hoy added.
Weighing Priorities
Toward the end of the meeting, Johnson said he had refrained from speaking out for integrity’s sake, but expressed opposition to the ICE partnership.
“We will build the community with the community. We’re not going to support racism, we’re not going to take money – cause all money ain’t good money. We’re going to support our chief of police,” Johnson said. “Why do anything different?”
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price also expressed concern about the county jail capacity. He said close to 700 detainees are on immigration holds, and the jails are close to 93% capacity.
Rev. David Wilson, with the Dallas Interdenominational Ministry Alliance, also opposed the ICE partnership. He emphasized local autonomy and expressed concern about community relations.
“Dallas has worked hard to build trust between the community and our police department. That trust is not purchased through federal grants,” he said.
Jed Ullrich, with Democratic Socialists of America North Texas, said he thought officials should not use the $25 million from ICE to fund more police officers in compliance with Proposition U.
“Whatever the heck the federal government’s offering you for this is pretty tempting,” he said. “I’m telling you right now, do not bankrupt our communities because you cannot meet the issues at hand for your city and the money that you need.”
But Bogdan Laurentiu, a Romanian immigrant, supported the ICE partnership.
“You might wonder, ‘Why would an immigrant support this?’” Laurentiu said. “Well, it turns out that if you come into the country legally and you don’t break the law, you have nothing to worry about.”
He pointed to a September incident, where an illegal alien beheaded a man in a Dallas hotel, as The Dallas Express reported. This crime caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who said the “time for being soft on illegal alien criminals is over.”
Laurientiu expressed concern that the suspect was walking around freely, despite a lengthy criminal history. He said, “Somebody dropped the ball.”
“That’s not a policy failure, that is a leadership failure,” he said. “If it would be up to me, I would fire every single one of you for allowing an illegal alien to murder an American.”
“Funny how the foreigner has to advocate for the safety of Americans,” Laurentiu added, apparently referring to himself.
Payton Jackson is running as a Republican to represent District 33, which spans from Dallas to Fort Worth, in the United States Congress. She objected to Comeaux’s denial of the ICE deal.
“A cop had the audacity, the authority, to turn down $25 million as if we shouldn’t want to partner with ICE for free,” Jackson said. “Our ICE facility was just under attack weeks before.”
Jackson also cited the September beheading. She pointed out the illegal alien “kicked the head across the parking lot as if it was a soccer ball.”
“You turned down $25 million as if our neighborhoods aren’t being invaded, as if our school districts aren’t overcrowded, as if our resources aren’t being depleted, as if the census isn’t inflated,” she said. “How dare you.”