What’s happening?
Through the council-approved warrant service officer model of a 287(g) program, ICE can train and authorize Keller Police Department officers to serve an administrative warrant to people in the agency’s jails, according to ICE’s website.
An administrative warrant is issued when an immigration officer has “probable cause to believe that the person is subject to removal,” according to the U.S. Congress website, and does not require approval from a judge or magistrate.
City officials said the initially proposed model may have resulted in costs for the city, and the new model will come at no cost to the city or through federal funding. ICE officers will spend some of their staff time training Keller detention officers, officials said.
“It’s not costing us extra dollars; it’s eight hours of training,” Council member Shannon Dubberly said during the Aug. 5 meeting.
Dozens of residents showed up to speak in opposition to the program and one resident spoke in favor.
“The Keller Police Department already works tirelessly to keep us safe. They don’t need 287(g) in order to continue doing their job, since they already have protocols in place. And they should never be asked to do ICE’s job or any of the models mentioned,” Kelly Campbell, a Keller resident, said at the meeting. “The policy won’t make our community safer. It will divide an already fractured community.”
City council approved the program unanimously during the meeting.
“Texans deserve to live in safe communities, and that’s why as long as I’m mayor, Keller will do everything in our power to assist in the removal of criminal illegal aliens from our country,” Keller Mayor Armin Mizani said in an Aug. 6 statement.
The context
Keller is the first city in Tarrant County and the largest in Texas to enter into an agreement with ICE through the 287(g) program, city officials said. Other participating Texas municipalities include Nixon near San Antonio and Splendora near Houston, according to data from ICE. Tarrant County jails have also been collaborating with ICE through its own 287(g) agreement, according to the Tarrant County’s Sheriff's Office.
Mizani first released a statement in July that the city would be pursuing a jail enforcement model of a 287(g) program, which he said would allow trained officers to screen individuals who are booked into Keller’s regional detention center to “determine if they are also subject to federal immigration enforcement.”
Keller’s regional detention center provides jail services for Keller, Colleyville, Roanoke, Southlake and Westlake.
Deputy Chief Jared Lemoine said Keller police have been collaborating with ICE since the Secure Communities Program started in 2013, when ICE gained access to FBI fingerprint data.
