The Trump administration and ICE have been having a tough time with the pushback they’ve received from the likes of Mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, who has been standing his ground against federal agents in the midwestern city. Now, Dallas’s Black chief of police, Daniel Comeaux, is holding strong, even after being offered a multi-million dollar deal to work with ICE. Let’s get into it.
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A meeting was held last week with the Community Police Oversight Board and Chief Comeaux, as the board members wanted to understand how closely the police department has been working with ICE agents. One board member expressed that there had been reports of the department not only working with ICE, but that response times from the department had also been slower, according to CBS News.
In response, Chief Comeaux explained there had been false reports on social media about the DPD working with federal agents. He then made it clear where he stands on a possible collaboration with ICE, according to The Dallas Morning News.
“We were contacted by the federal government, I think it was last week, or within the last two weeks, and we were offered $25 million to be part of 287(g), and we said absolutely not — no.” Then he doubled down, adding: “It was me who said that. Turned it down.”
If you’re wondering what the 287(g) program is, we’ll break it down for you. The 287(g) program allows law enforcement agencies to gain access to ICE training and resources to enforce immigration checks during their routine patrols with ICE oversight, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.
There are three models to the 287(g) program, and two of these models allow officers the right to check the status of a potential illegal immigrant who is already in custody, while the third allows officers to check the status of a potential illegal immigrant while on patrol, per the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.
Chief Comeaux did not give a definitive reason for declining a partnership with ICE, but a spokesperson for the DPD told The Dallas Morning News the money turned down would have been used to cover salaries and operational costs.
However, while Chief Comeaux is firm in his stance that the police department will not be collaborating with ICE, there may be another meeting about the potential partnership after the Dallas Mayor, Eric Johnson (a former Democrat, now a republican), who said that Chief Comeaux shouldn’t be making such a decision on his own, according to ABC-affiliated WFAA News.
Per WFAA News, Mayor Johnson has asked members of the city council to propose meetings with ICE and Chief Comeaux to see how the deal could be beneficial for the city. As of yet, there is no confirmation whether a meeting will take place, and if it’s up to the police chief, no such meeting will take place.
“They’re (federal agents) doing what they do, and we’re doing what we do, but there’s no true collaboration that’s happening in Dallas, and we’re trying to let everyone know that and that’s what’s been happening… I just hope it continues to stay the way it’s been in Dallas because we haven’t had any issues,” Chief Comeaux said in the board meeting, per The Dallas Morning News.
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