Dallas police to review immigration policies after Abbott funding threat

DALLAS - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is threatening to pull millions of dollars in public safety and World Cup funding from the City of Dallas. 

The governor says Dallas is violating a contract by not working with the Department of Homeland Security on immigration enforcement. 

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux is now speaking out after the threat to pull millions in funding.

Dallas responds to Abbott threat

Comeaux said DPD's policy concerning immigration has been in place for some time. 

"We are in communication with the state to get clarification on what part of our policy they believe is not in compliance, including the appropriate actions to take when officers encounter someone who has an administrative warrant," Comeaux wrote in a statement. "There may be changes to our policies following these discussions – but as a police department, we will be in compliance with the law."

The City of Dallas also responded to the letter from the governor's office.

"We remain committed to complying with all applicable state and federal laws while continuing to prioritize public safety for the residents of Dallas, and ensuring our officers have the resources and support necessary to effectively serve the community," a spokesperson wrote.

What they're saying:

Dallas City Councilman Jaime Resendez, who is on the public safety committee, thinks Abbott is putting politics over safety.

"What we're seeing right now is an attempt to coerce local governments into shifting our focus away from public safety and toward federal immigration enforcement," Resendez said. "As we all know here in the City of Dallas, we have real public safety challenges, violent crime, traffic fatalities, emergency response, and our officers need to stay focused on those priorities."

"I think that the Dallas Police Department should focus on public safety in general," Resendez said. "It's not their role to enforce federal immigration laws."

The other side:

In response to these claims, the governor's press office says the policy change order is intended to enhance, not hinder, public safety in Dallas. 

"A city's failure to comply with its contract agreement with the state to assist in the enforcement of immigration laws makes the state less safe. It can have deadly consequences. Cities in Texas are expected to make the streets safer, not more deadly."

Abbott threatens funding

The backstory:

The governor's office sent letters to Dallas, Houston and Austin on Thursday.

The public safety office took issue with Dallas Police General Order 315.04, an order concerning immigration arrests.

"Officers may not prolong the detention of an individual in order to further investigate the individual’s immigration status or to hold them for federal authorities. Rather, at the expiration of the time reasonably required to carry out the purposes of the initial stop, the officer is required to release the individual, regardless of whether the officer suspects or even knows that the individual is undocumented or the individual has answered dishonestly or refuses to answer questions about immigration status," it reads.

As a result, the state is threatening to pull more than $30 million dollars in grant money, and withhold millions more in security funding ahead of the World Cup.

The Dallas Police Department previously said it received $22 million in grant money for World Cup safety.

What's next:

The City of Dallas said they will respond to the governor by the April 23 deadline.