Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has arrested 35 illegal aliens across multiple metropolitan areas through a partnership with the Trump Administration and federal immigration authorities, according to a release from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).
The arrests were made by Paxton’s Criminal Investigative Division under a Section 287(g) agreement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The detainees have been turned over to ICE for deportation proceedings.
“Through our partnership with the Trump Administration, Texas is a safer place. Every illegal must be found, detained, and deported,” Paxton said. “The invasion of illegal aliens encouraged by the Biden Administration represented one of the greatest threats to national sovereignty in our history. We will defend the American homeland by deporting the illegal aliens threatening to alter the fabric of our country.”
The 287(g) program allows trained state and local law enforcement officers to perform certain federal immigration enforcement functions under DHS supervision.
President Donald Trump, following his second-term inauguration in January, issued an executive order directing DHS to authorize more state and local participation in immigration enforcement. In February, Paxton became the first Texas law enforcement official to sign a new 287(g) agreement under Trump’s renewed policy, empowering members of his office to help enforce federal immigration law.
The OAG did not disclose when or where the arrests occurred or provide details about the nationalities of those detained.
The arrests come as Dallas officials continue to debate participation in similar enforcement programs. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the Dallas City Council recently rejected Mayor Eric Johnson’s proposal for the Dallas Police Department to join ICE’s 287(g) initiative — a move Johnson argued could bring $25 million in federal funding and help meet the voter-mandated police staffing levels required under Proposition U.
A joint meeting of the Public Safety and Government Efficiency committees requested by the mayor has not been posted on the City’s agenda as of October 26, according to City records. The Dallas Express will update this story if the meeting is scheduled.