by Fort Worth city officials seem to have no intentions to actively seek, identify, or detain undocumented people as federal government officials increase immigration enforcement and deportations nationwide.
The Fort Worth Report was informed by five members of the City Council—Alan Blaylock, Carlos Flores, Mia Hall, Jeanette Martinez, and Chris Nettles—that the council has not formally discussed how to handle immigration enforcement locally. Requests for response from Mayor Mattie Parker and the other five council members were not answered.
Concerned about the potential effects on Fort Worth’s Hispanic neighborhoods and their faith in law enforcement, Flores and Martinez, the council’s two Latino members, stated that they would not back a collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Martinez stated, “I am aware that I would vote no if it came to a vote.”
A new state legislation requiring Texas county sheriff departments to enter into official agreements with ICE upon being contacted by the agency has sparked discussions about local immigration enforcement. A few Texas municipalities, like Keller, have chosen to participate in these agreements, even though the legislation does not require them.
President Donald Trump has prioritized making more arrests and deportations every day since he returned to the White House in January. Trump pledged to carry out the largest mass deportation in American history on the first day of his second term, issuing ten executive orders and proclamations pertaining to immigration.
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The city’s police officers have enough responsibilities without serving as immigration agents, according to several council members in Fort Worth. According to Nettles, he would prefer that police concentrate on maintaining Fort Worth’s safety rather than using resources to find those who might not have all the necessary paperwork.
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As the sole Black member of the council and a pastor and activist, Nettles stated that, absent a federal mandate, he felt a moral duty to join the city’s Black and brown citizens in their adamant resistance to cooperation with ICE.
empowering the people, the regular citizens who are attempting to support themselves and their families, will always be my legacy and my position on this council, Nettles stated. I’m going to argue with most of our community about their positions.
Keller partners with ICE. Will Fort Worth follow?
The city’s formal involvement in the 287(g) program, a collaboration with ICE that allows local officers to check the immigration status of individuals they arrest and book into prison, was approved by the Keller City Council last week with a unanimous vote. As per the deal, undocumented convicts will be flagged for ICE by Keller police.
According to Flores, he is worried about how a comparable collaboration with ICE might affect the public’s confidence in Fort Worth’s local law enforcement. The Hispanic community may become more fearful of the police if they believe that the city is actively assisting ICE.
Blaylock did not say if he would be in favor of a Fort Worth 287(g) cooperation. Hall said she needed more details on the initiative and declined to comment.
The statute forcing all county sheriff offices that run a jail to join 287(g) was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott during a July event in Fort Worth with Trump-appointed U.S. border czar Tom Homan. The statute requires sheriff departments to join if ICE offers the agreement.
Since Sheriff Bill Waybourn assumed office in 2017, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office and ICE have maintained an official collaboration. The cooperation was extended indefinitely by a 3-2 decision of Tarrant County commissioners in 2020.
Local law enforcement officials are largely deputized under the program to execute federal immigration law.
According to ICE’s website, this includes giving the department more power to find and handle undocumented residents who are facing criminal charges, enforce limited immigration laws under ICE supervision while performing routine tasks, and serve and carry out administrative warrants on detainees.
Every jail inmate in Tarrant County is required to have their immigration status checked.
According to an email from Fort Worth immigration lawyer Rosa Maria Berdeja, undocumented people who are arrested have the same rights as everyone else, including the right to due process and the right to remain silent.
In Texas, during a legitimate detention or arrest, law enforcement officials may ask for identifying information, including a person’s name, address, and birthdate.
According to Berdeja, they are free to chose to keep quiet and are not obligated to divulge any further information. Nonetheless, people should never provide phony documents or provide misleading information about their immigration status.
The county’s jail is used by Fort Worth and other Tarrant communities without their own, thus even while city police do not personally check for immigration statuses, anyone arrested and admitted to Tarrant jail is screened.
According to Mayor Armin Mizani, who is running for a seat in the Texas House, the Keller deal codified the city’s long-standing practice of working with ICE.
The Splendora Police Department, located just north of Houston, and the Nixon Police Department, located east of San Antonio, are two other municipal police departments in Texas that have partnered with ICE through 287(g) as of August 13.
The city estimates that there are roughly 47,000 people living in Keller. According to contemporary census estimates, that represents less than 5 percent of Fort Worth’s current population of almost 1 million people.
Nettles expressed concern that local departments would be compelled to play a more active role in immigration enforcement, but he would not support Fort Worth opting into the 287(g) program.
By suspending the city’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives with a divided council vote after the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal money from government organizations who continue DEI programming, he feels Fort Worth has already given local power to the federal government.
Trump issued an order in April instructing federal agencies to identify cities that have laws or policies that make it difficult for the federal government to enforce immigration laws. Cities that refuse to formally work with ICE may be denied federal funds and contracts, but federal officials cannot compel them to do so.
Sanctuary-like arrangements were effectively outlawed by a 2017 state law. Fort Worth was the only significant Texas city not to join a lawsuit opposing the law when it was passed. In 2018, that law was upheld by a federal appeals court.
Flores, who had just been elected, wanted the city to join the lawsuit, saying the state statute was unfair and unjust. In 2017, he was one of four council members who voted against joining the lawsuit.
Leaders want fairness, compassion from new top cop
Nestor Martinez, president of the National Latino Law Enforcement Organization’s Fort Worth chapter, stated that he is searching for a police chief who will place a high priority on informing Hispanic communities about the immigration laws and the duties that police officers are legally required to perform.
He mentioned Tarrant County’s long-standing involvement in 287(g) in an interview with the Report in July, stating that locals might want refresher training on the program.
You see all those Facebook posts saying that police are out here enforcing immigration laws and that ICE is over here. That’s simply not the case most of the time. He added that officers aren’t making random arrests and that it’s just officers carrying out our long-standing procedures.
A request for comment from the Fort Worth Police Department’s communications team was not answered.
Martinez, a council member, wants the city’s sizable Hispanic population to be carefully taken into account by the future police chief. The group accounted for 35% of Fort Worth’s population in the 2020 census.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, around 170,918 persons, or 18.6% of Fort Worth’s population, were foreign-born in 2020. Approximately 106,000 individuals, or 62% of that total, were non-citizens of the United States.
Flores wants the new chief to continue the police department s focus on building community trust, transparency, inspiring department excellence, and safety for all residents.
As a Latino city leader, my vision for a police chief is someone who will prioritize fighting crime without compromising the trust and cooperation of our diverse community, Flores said in a statement. The best way to do that is through clear communication, empathy, fair practices and a demonstrated commitment to equitable policing.
Some officials said they want local law enforcement to focus on educating Fort Worth s Hispanic communities and building trust rather than enforcing immigration policies or assisting ICE.
Council member Martinez said undocumented residents shouldn t call attention to themselves from law enforcement by risking crimes such as speeding or drinking and driving.
Martinez said her office takes calls from residents citywide to help them through any immigration concerns. She is planning a listening session with the police department in October and working on creating a nationalization clinic.
As a Hispanic leader, she said she wants to use her position of power to empower and educate residents, rather than navigating a partnership with ICE.
I would be very concerned for our Latino community if (an ICE partnership) was a direction we were taking, Martinez said. We, at least in Fort Worth, I feel, support our Latino community.
Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them [email protected]@fortworthreport.org.
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