{"id":10330,"date":"2025-10-18T23:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T23:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/10330\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T23:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T23:14:10","slug":"dallas-mayor-challenges-police-chief-over-25-million-ice-offer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/10330\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Mayor Challenges Police Chief Over $25 Million ICE Offer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is pressing City Council to reconsider a $25 million offer from federal immigration authorities that Police Chief Daniel Comeaux rejected<\/a> \u2014 a move that highlights how Dallas continues to fall short<\/a> of the voter-mandated police staffing and pay standards set by Proposition U.<\/p>\n

Comeaux\u2019s decision to decline participation in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s 287(g) program\u00a0has now prompted a formal directive from the mayor, who instructed key council leaders to meet with ICE officials and evaluate whether the deal could help Dallas boost its police ranks without raising costs.<\/p>\n

Mayor: Decision Shouldn\u2019t Be Made Alone<\/p>\n

In a memo sent Friday, Johnson directed the chairs of the Public Safety and Government Efficiency committees \u2014 Council Members Cara Mendelsohn and Maxie Johnson \u2014 to convene a joint meeting with ICE representatives and Police Chief Daniel Comeaux to discuss the merits of the 287(g) program, as first reported by The Dallas Morning News.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly, participation in ICE\u2019s Task Force Model could provide significant financial benefits to the city,\u201d Johnson wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cDallas might be forfeiting significant direct financial benefits by declining ICE\u2019s offer,\u201d he added<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDecisions on matters like this \u2014 especially one involving $25 million of public funds \u2014 should be made by elected policymakers after receiving public input,\u201d he said<\/a>, according to WFAA.<\/p>\n

Johnson said the program could \u201cact as a \u2018force multiplier,\u2019 providing a path for the Dallas Police Department to deploy additional resources to reduce violent crime at lower cost to taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also cited Senate Bill 8, a new state law requiring Texas counties with jails to establish 287(g) partnerships with federal immigration authorities by 2026. While the law applies to county sheriffs rather than city police departments, Johnson pointed to it as evidence of growing statewide cooperation with ICE.<\/p>\n

Comeaux Defends Rejection<\/p>\n

Comeaux, a former federal agent, said during an October 14 Community Police Oversight Board meeting that he immediately turned down ICE\u2019s offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were contacted by the federal government \u2026 and we were offered $25 million to be a part of 287(g),\u201d Comeaux told the board. \u201cWe said, \u2018Absolutely not, no.\u2019 That was me who said that, turned it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stressed that Dallas officers do not engage in immigration enforcement and will not begin doing so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had no officers going out with ICE agents to make immigration arrests,\u201d Comeaux said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the authority to do that, nor will we do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the ICE Agreement Does<\/p>\n

According to the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s 287(g) Task Force Model Memorandum of Agreement<\/a>, local officers deputized under the program may \u201cperform certain functions of an immigration officer under the direction and supervision of ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n

These include the authority to interrogate and arrest individuals for suspected immigration violations, serve and execute immigration warrants, and prepare charging documents such as Notices to Appear.<\/p>\n

The agreement specifies that participating law-enforcement agencies are responsible for their own personnel expenses \u2014 including salaries, benefits, and local operations \u2014 while ICE covers training, supervision, and travel for instruction. It also states that deputized officers act \u201cunder color of federal authority\u201d and must follow federal civil-rights and complaint-review procedures.<\/p>\n

Context: Staffing, Budget, and State Mandates<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s directive comes as Dallas continues to operate below the staffing and pay standards required by Proposition U \u2014 the voter-approved charter amendment mandating at least 4,000 officers and competitive compensation among the top five North Texas departments.<\/p>\n

As previously detailed by The Dallas Express<\/a>, the city\u2019s FY 2026 budget projects just 3,424 sworn officers \u2014 576 short of the charter-mandated minimum. That same budget placed Dallas\u2019 base starting police pay 12th among area departments, well below the top-five benchmark voters required.<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s push follows months of public concern over delayed emergency-response times and ongoing recruitment struggles that continue to strain existing officers.<\/p>\n

Council Reaction Highlights Divide Over Priorities<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s proposal exposed familiar divisions within the City Council over law-enforcement funding and public-safety priorities.<\/p>\n

Council Member Jaime Resendez called the 287(g) partnership \u201ca politically charged topic,\u201d while Council Member Adam Bazaldua \u2014 who publicly urged residents to vote against Proposition U in 2024 \u2014 again voiced opposition, dismissing the plan as an attempt to \u201cget attention from the [Trump] administration and other political leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their opposition came despite continuing data showing the Dallas Police Department remains hundreds of officers below voter-mandated levels,<\/a> with emergency-response times still exceeding city targets.<\/p>\n

While Johnson framed the ICE offer as a financial tool to bolster police ranks without raising taxes, critics offered no clear alternative for how the city might meet its Prop U<\/a> obligations.<\/p>\n

What Comes Next<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s directive to Mendelsohn and Maxie Johnson sets up the first formal discussion between City Hall, ICE, and the Dallas Police Department since Comeaux\u2019s rejection of the federal offer. A date for the joint committee meeting has not yet been announced.<\/p>\n

Whether the City Council reopens talks with ICE could determine whether Dallas finally meets its Prop U requirements \u2014 or continues to fall behind its suburban neighbors in staffing, pay, and public-safety performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is pressing City Council to reconsider a $25 million offer from federal immigration authorities…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4519,102,104,103,4081,9294,4376,9295,9296,9297,9298,6945],"class_list":["post-10330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-city-council","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-dallas-police-department","tag-daniel-comeaux","tag-eric-johnson","tag-federal-immigration-authorities","tag-maxie-johnson","tag-police-ranks","tag-proposition-u","tag-the-dallas-morning-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}