Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation and issued a records request to the City of Dallas concerning the Dallas Police Department’s potential refusal to comply with state and federal immigration laws.
As initially reported by Dallas Express, the attorney general’s office announced Thursday that Dallas’ Interim Police Chief Michael Igo recently said, “[t]he Dallas Police Department is not assisting any federal agency on detaining people that are either documented or undocumented in the City of Dallas.”
“The law is not optional,” responded Paxton. “Local governments do not have the authority to disregard state and federal immigration laws.”
In a March 7 letter to Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and Interim Police Chief Igo, Paxton formally requested “operational policies and training materials related to compliance with the requirements of state and federal immigration laws.”
Additionally, Paxton asked for email and other communications between City employees and the Dallas Police Department “regarding enforcement policies or procedures concerning state or federal immigration laws and federal detainer requests.”
In late January, Igo was featured in a Dallas Police Department post on X with the caption “Interim Chief of Police Michael T. Igo on Federal Immigration,” where he stated that “the federal government is primarily responsible for enforcing immigration laws.”
Paxton raised concerns that DPD may be breaking Texas’ law prohibiting local entities from adopting sanctuary city policies.
“The people of Texas expect law enforcement agencies to uphold public safety, not to implement sanctuary policies that put our communities at risk,” Paxton said. “My office will take all necessary legal actions to ensure compliance with state law and hold accountable any local entity that defies its legal obligations.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, meanwhile, has been actively arresting individuals who have violated immigration laws. Texas Scorecard recently reported that ICE arrested 646 illegal aliens in the Houston area, including transnational gang members and dangerous fugitives.
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