After rejecting a $25 million deal with ICE, Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux claimed the partnership would bring \u201cno value at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Comeaux defended his decision against partnering with ICE in a joint hearing<\/a> of the Dallas Public Safety Committee and Government Efficiency Committee on November 6. <\/p>\n As The Dallas Express reported, Comeaux recently rejected<\/a> a $25 million partnership with ICE under the 287(g) program, which gives funding and immigration authority to local police.<\/p>\n \u201cCan you explain to me if there would be any value for us to be involved in this 287(g) program?\u201d asked Councilman Bill Roth.<\/p>\n \u201cI see no value at all for us to be involved in this program,\u201d Comeaux replied.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security\u2019s 287(g) program grants federal immigration-enforcement authority to local police and reimburses<\/a> them for their assistance, as The Dallas Express reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n After Comeaux rejected the funding, Mayor Eric Johnson asked the council to reconsider<\/a> the $25 million deal with ICE, as reported by The Dallas Express.\u00a0<\/p>\n This comes as Dallas\u2019 budget lags<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want to be about the money, and just say $25 million \u2013 well, now I have to backfill those officers that would be working this 287(g) program,\u201d Comeaux said. \u201cIt makes no sense even financially, because now you\u2019re upside down.\u201d<\/p>\n Comeaux also said Dallas police are narrowing response times, another reason he declined the ICE partnership.<\/p>\n \u201cThis 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,\u201d Comeaux said.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re not where we want them to be, I will admit that in front of anyone,\u201d\u00a0 Comeaux said. \u201cWe want to be better, we will get better, but they\u2019re going down every single month right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Comeaux said if he had to reassign 250 officers to immigration duties, it would raise response times. \u201cI would have to take officers from patrol to allow them to be in patrol cars to conduct these immigration activities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n During the meeting, ICE-Dallas Officer Ivey stated that the agency would reimburse police for \u201cimmigration activities that are conducted during their normal duties.\u201d<\/p>\n Comeaux said he feels Dallas police are already in a \u201creally good position.\u201d He said violent crime is down by more than 10%, with homicides down by 22%, and expressed concern about community relations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re working extremely hard to build trust in the community \u2013 not only in the community, but to reduce violent crime,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been very aggressive on crime from day one of me arriving.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s collaboration with federal task forces.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we have a lane being a local police department, and the federal has a lane being federal law enforcement,\u201d he said. \u201cI looked at all of the great things that are happening in Dallas, and it\u2019s not the program for us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018A Busy Field Office\u2019<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m comfortable with saying that Dallas is a busy field office,\u201d Frances said.<\/p>\n While ICE-Dallas also oversees Oklahoma, Frances said the region has a \u201chigh\u201d level of activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n In October, a Mexican illegal alien in Dallas was arrested after soliciting hitmen<\/a> to kill ICE agents for $10,000 each, as The Dallas Express reported. In September, a sniper attacked<\/a> the Dallas ICE facility, aiming to murder federal agents, killing two detainees and wounding another.<\/p>\n The Denton County Sheriff\u2019s Office and Tarrant County Sheriff\u2019s Office are among dozens<\/a> of agencies in Texas that work with ICE through the 287(g) program, as The Dallas Express reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn initially joined<\/a> the 287(g) program after he took office in 2017, according to KERA.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSheriff Waybourn believes people who are in this country illegally can pose a threat to the safety of this nation,\u201d said Public Information Officer Robbie Hoy to The Dallas Express.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Tarrant County, the 287(g) program only applies within the walls of the county jail, according to Hoy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we are booking an inmate and receive notification they have an ICE detainer hold, we notify ICE,\u201d he said. \u201cThe inmate remains in our custody until ICE can pick them up \u2013 usually within 48 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo law enforcement services are affected by our participation,\u201d Hoy added.<\/p>\n Weighing Priorities<\/p>\n Toward the end of the meeting, Johnson said he had refrained from speaking out for integrity\u2019s sake, but expressed opposition to the ICE partnership.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe will build the community with the community. We\u2019re not going to support racism, we\u2019re not going to take money \u2013 cause all money ain\u2019t good money. We\u2019re going to support our chief of police,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhy do anything different?\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Rev. David Wilson, with the Dallas Interdenominational Ministry Alliance, also opposed the ICE partnership. He emphasized local autonomy and expressed concern about community relations.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDallas has worked hard to build trust between the community and our police department. That trust is not purchased through federal grants,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever the heck the federal government\u2019s offering you for this is pretty tempting,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n But Bogdan Laurentiu, a Romanian immigrant, supported the ICE partnership.<\/p>\n \u201cYou might wonder, \u2018Why would an immigrant support this?\u2019\u201d Laurentiu said. \u201cWell, it turns out that if you come into the country legally and you don\u2019t break the law, you have nothing to worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed to a September incident, where an illegal alien beheaded<\/a> a man in a Dallas hotel, as The Dallas Express reported. This crime caught the attention<\/a> of President Donald Trump, who said the \u201ctime for being soft on illegal alien criminals is over.\u201d<\/p>\n Laurientiu expressed concern that the suspect was walking around freely, despite a lengthy criminal history. He said, \u201cSomebody dropped the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not a policy failure, that is a leadership failure,\u201d he said. \u201cIf it would be up to me, I would fire every single one of you for allowing an illegal alien to murder an American.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFunny how the foreigner has to advocate for the safety of Americans,\u201d Laurentiu added, apparently referring to himself.<\/p>\n Payton Jackson is running<\/a> as a Republican to represent District 33, which spans from Dallas to Fort Worth, in the United States Congress. She objected to Comeaux\u2019s denial of the ICE deal.<\/p>\n \u201cA cop had the audacity, the authority, to turn down $25 million as if we shouldn\u2019t want to partner with ICE for free,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cOur ICE facility was just under attack weeks before.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson also cited the September beheading<\/a>. She pointed<\/a> out the illegal alien \u201ckicked the head across the parking lot as if it was a soccer ball.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou turned down $25 million as if our neighborhoods aren\u2019t being invaded, as if our school districts aren\u2019t overcrowded, as if our resources aren\u2019t being depleted, as if the census isn\u2019t inflated,\u201d she said. \u201cHow dare you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After rejecting a $25 million deal with ICE, Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux claimed the partnership would bring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[25396,102,3745,104,103,401,25398,4376,25397],"class_list":["post-42486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-chief-daniel-comeaux","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-express","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-dallas-police","tag-daniel-c-comeaux-chief","tag-eric-johnson","tag-government-efficiency-committee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42486","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=42486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}