DALLAS – The Dallas police chief turned down a $25 million offer from ICE and this decision is now sparking a debate within city council.
Several council members are openly backing the chief, leaving them at odds with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson.
What we know:
Days after it was revealed, Dallas Police Chief, Daniel Comeaux, turned down an offer to partner with ICE. There’s now a war of words among some city leaders.
It all started when Comeaux told the city’s community police oversight board that he said no to the feds, who offered $25 million for Dallas police enforcing certain federal immigration laws.
“No one is going to be wearing a DPD uniform enforcing federal laws. It just won’t happen,” said Chief Comeaux.
He said Dallas police have had very little interaction with ICE and made his position very clear.
“We as DPD are not doing any immigration enforcement. We don’t have the authority to do that, nor have we done that, nor will we do that.”
The other side:
Mayor Eric Johnson disagrees and wants a public meeting about it.
In a letter to city council committee chairs, he called the police chief’s decision unilateral and says the decision should be reviewed publicly. Johnson also said the partnership could be a way to bring in money that the city and police department need.
Local perspective:
Over the weekend, four city council members, Chad West, Jaime Resendez, Adam Bazaldua, and Paula Caldwell Blackmon came out to publicly back the chief. Releasing a joint statement where they wrote:
“While the Dallas Police Department’s role is to ensure the public safety of our community, immigration and related activities are a federal responsibility.”
They added that joining ICE’s program would “turn local law enforcement into an arm of federal immigration enforcement and could result in betrayal of trust between the Dallas Police Department and the community they are sworn to protect.”
Dig deeper:
The mayor argues that this is about accountability and that any decision involving $25 million in federal funds should have to come before city council and the people of Dallas.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by FOX 4’s Vania Castillo.
DallasDallas City CouncilDallas Police DepartmentDallas CountyImmigration