Dallas police eye immigration policy changes amid Abbott threats
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The Dallas Police Department has revised its immigration polices after Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to withhold millions of dollars from the city if it doesn't cooperate fully with ICE.
The big picture: The governor has also sparred with Austin and Houston over their restrictions on cooperation with ICE on certain arrests.
Catch up quick: DPD's immigration policies clash with the city's 2025 certification that it would "participate fully" with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a condition for receiving the state's public safety grants, Abbott said in a letter to Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson.
- Dallas is at risk of losing $32 million in grants for the 2026 fiscal year and a share of the region's $55 million public safety grants for the World Cup, Abbott said
Context: Dallas PD's general order says officers cannot stop people solely to determine their legal status or arrest them for not being legally authorized to live in the U.S.
- Officers also cannot prolong a person's detention to investigate their immigration status or for federal authorities to detain them.
The latest: Dallas city manager Kimberley Bizor Tolbert informed Abbott's office Thursday that DPD revised its general order to comply with state law regarding immigration enforcement ahead of a Thursday deadline to make changes.
- "Our officers will follow the law, and our updated policy will affirm that we will cooperate with federal authorities when required," Dallas police chief Daniel Comeaux said Thursday in a statement.
- Still, Dallas officers won't stop people solely to determine their immigration status, Comeaux said.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect policy changes made by Dallas police.