On the evening of Feb. 5, at the front of the cafeteria at Govalle Elementary in East Austin, Lisa Davis, chief of the Austin Police Department, faced hundreds of community members.<\/p>\n
Many were angry, asking the chief to account for the January deportation of Karen Guti\u00e9rrez Castellanos, and her U.S. citizen 5-year-old daughter, after she called 911 from her Oak Hill home, which Davis called \u201cabsolutely tragic.\u201d Many were confused or scared, asking the chief to clarify exactly how APD is cooperating or not cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a police chief, I understand the irony of all of this. When I\u2019m here trying to ask everyone to trust us, to report crimes to us,\u201d Davis said. Her first commitment to the community: \u201cAustin Police Department does not ask immigration status.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis explained that in February 2025, 700,000 administrative warrants \u2013 which differ from a judicial warrant and are not signed by a judge \u2013 were put into the system by ICE. Despite that difference, Davis said an administrative warrant looks like a detainer. \u201cIt also says \u2018Call ICE,\u2019 and it gives a phone number to call,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n
Davis told the room that in the case of Guti\u00e9rrez Castellanos, the officer was checking for a restraining order when the administrative warrant appeared. The officer then called ICE, who arrived within the hour. \u201cStop making excuses for what happened,\u201d one person shouted.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a police chief, I understand the irony of all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
APD Chief Lisa Davis<\/p>\n
Davis said that Senate Bill 4<\/a>, passed<\/a> in 2017, bars her from prohibiting officers from calling ICE when they come across administrative warrants. \u201cWe cannot restrict officers from cooperating with ICE,\u201d Davis said, stating that she personally will not call ICE when encountering an administrative warrant.<\/p>\n The community heavily protested that assertion, and asked the chief to \u201cdo the right thing\u201d and resist state law. \u201cIs the penalty deportation?\u201d one person cried out. \u201cCowardice!\u201d shouted several others.<\/p>\n APD\u2019s revised general orders, Davis said, raise the officer\u2019s decision to call ICE on an administrative warrant to their commander. Davis also responded affirmatively to a community member\u2019s question that, while the decision is being taken to the commander, if there is no criminal reason for the person to be detained, if that individual is free to leave.<\/p>\n There was no update on which 287(g) agreement<\/a> Travis County is considering adopting to potentially further cooperate with ICE, as Senate Bill 8 mandates<\/a> by the end of the year. Under the least aggressive model, law enforcement officers could identify and process people for removal who are already arrested and detained in state or local jails under criminal or pending criminal charges.<\/p>\n Veronica and Nathan Sharp came to the forum hoping to share the information with their neighbors who couldn\u2019t attend. Hundreds of members from their majority-Latino church have stayed home to watch Mass online, they said. \u201cThey\u2019re afraid. The kids are afraid,\u201d Veronica Sharp said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of confusion. \u2026 I feel helpless sometimes, but I know that we have more power with people.\u201d<\/p>\n