Gov. Abbott: Dallas County refuses to detain all criminal immigrants
DALLAS - The governor of Texas sent a letter to Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez Monday demanding that she fully cooperate with a federal program for detaining criminal immigrants.
Gov. Greg Abbott said the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s federal detainer program is designed to prevent dangerous criminals from other countries from being released into communities. ICE asks that local law enforcement officials give federal agents a chance to pick up wanted immigrants.
But he said Valdez and her office do not always participate.
"'Sanctuary City' policies like those promoted by your recent decision to implement your own case-by-case immigrant detention plan will no longer be tolerated in Texas," Abbott said in the letter to Sheriff Valdez.
He called Valdez’s policies “dangerous to Texans” and promised the state would take whatever actions are necessary to protect its citizens.
DSO spokesman Raul Reyna said the sheriff does not plan to comment on the letter until after she’s had time to review it and discuss it with her staff Monday afternoon.