Three major Texas cities have revised policies on how local police cooperate with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents after Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to withdraw state funding.
Austin announced Friday that its police department is updating its general orders to clarify how officers should handle administrative warrants from ICE. The move came over a week after the governor’s office warned that around $2.5 million in grants — which the city said are used for sexual assault evidence testing, victims assistance programming and other public safety initiatives — were under threat if Austin didn’t change its policy.
Recommended Videos
The change followed similar policy updates from Houston and Dallas, which stood to lose over $110 million and more than $32 million in public safety grants respectively. More than $55 million in World Cup public safety funding could also be at risk for Dallas, the governor’s office said.
Austin’s new general orders, which were not publicly available Friday and were shared Monday with The Texas Tribune, add new language saying police officers encountering an administrative warrant should contact ICE “when operationally feasible” to determine whether the warrant was valid.
If a warrant is valid, the officers contacting ICE should ask how much time is needed for immigration agents to arrive at the scene and determine how urgent the hold request is, according to the revised orders. Officers should not take “an unreasonable amount of time assisting in these matters,” the new rules added.
The updated orders also say a higher-ranking officer would determine what is a “reasonable” amount of time to wait for federal immigration agents based on whether there are appropriate department resources, whether the detained individual is known to be dangerous and whether the requested assistance would help stop criminal activity..
Austin police are still not allowed to arrest or detain individuals based solely on an administrative warrant or “unreasonably prolong a lawful detention to contact ICE.”
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said in a Friday statement that the updated general orders allow the city to properly allocate resources to maintain public safety.
“My focus — and the focus of every Austin Police officer — remains on public safety and community policing,” Davis said.
Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott’s spokesperson, said in a Friday statement that the governor’s office had lifted the funding hold and “expects full contract compliance moving forward.”
“Governor Abbott has been clear: cities in Texas must fully comply with state law and cooperate with federal immigration authorities to keep dangerous criminals off our streets,” Mahaleris said.
A day before Austin’s announcement, Dallas removed its ban on police officers prolonging a person’s detention during encounters like traffic stops to hold them for ICE agents. Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux announced that the department had updated its general orders to affirm that local officers will “cooperate with federal authorities when required” while still protecting the safety of all residents.
In particular, Dallas’ revised policy says police officers can ask people for their immigration status when they are lawfully detained and share that information with federal authorities. It also does not ban Dallas police from supporting ICE actions as “reasonable or necessary,” including providing enforcement assistance.
More notably, the updated version left out language from the original order that says officers “may not prolong the detention of an individual in order to further investigate the individual’s immigration status or to hold them for federal authorities.”
However, the policy still maintains that officers will not stop or contact people solely for the purpose of determining immigration status. Dallas police also may not ask victims, witnesses or people reporting crimes about their immigration status — unless it’s necessary for investigation or if there’s probable cause that they had engaged in a separate criminal offense.
“As Mayor of Dallas, public safety is my highest priority, and I agree with Governor Abbott that federal immigration enforcement plays a role in keeping our city safe,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said in a Thursday statement to the Tribune. “I appreciate Chief Comeaux’s ensuring the Dallas Police Department’s internal policies reflect its longstanding practice of cooperating with all of our state and federal law enforcement partners, including those that enforce our nation’s immigration laws.”
Mahaleris said Thursday that the governor’s public safety office is reviewing Dallas’ updated policy.
“As the City has begun making changes to meet the Governor’s expectations that its policies require full cooperation with DHS, the Public Safety Office has extended the deadline for complying with the certification and will continue to engage with the City,” Mahaleris said. “Governor Abbott will continue to use every necessary tool to protect Texans.”
Prior to the updated policy, Democrats and community organizations in North Texas had released a joint letter Wednesday pushing back against the governor’s threat to Dallas.
In addition, Houston has also updated its ICE ordinance and police department’s policy this week in response to a $114 million funding threat from the governor.