“Our purpose is to protect everyone, make sure everybody’s safe, regardless of what their status is,” Dallas PD Interim Asst. Chief Jesse Reyes said.
DALLAS — Visitors to the Mexican Consulate in Dallas were greeted Thursday morning by officers from the Dallas Police Department. But in a climate of confusion and fear over immigration and ramped-up enforcement, the officers were there to calm nerves, not to make them worse.
Mexican and American citizens filled the consulate per usual to process passports, registrations, and credentials necessary for travel and to continue working in the United States. A team of DPD officers stood in the middle of a packed room to announce their intentions and to field questions.
“The Dallas Police are not immigration police,” said Consul General Francisco de la Torre Galindo.
“When a raid happens, are we all the same, or do they only go after the target,” one woman asked.
“Who should we speak to? What should we tell them,” another asked.
“The fear is that they can be walking down the street and can be deported for no reason,” Jesse Reyes, Interim Executive Assistant Chief at Dallas Police, said. Reyes told WFAA they have been holding impromptu, informal discussions at the consulate several times a week and at other locations throughout the city to dispel rumors spreading on social media about what Dallas police will and will not do to assist immigration officers.
“Just to make sure individuals are not afraid to report crimes,” Reyes said. “That we’re here for their protection.”
“I may say that every single day we’re having sort of a small town hall in churches, or temples and schools every single day,” de la Torre Galindo said. “For them, it is very important to understand if they see a police officer in school or in the supermarket they will know for sure that they are not immigration officers.”
“We do understand that people have fear right now,” del la Torre Galindo added. “But we ask everyone to make decisions based on information, true information, not on rumors. That’s why this kind of Q and A is so important for the people.”
Other North Texas police departments, including Fort Worth, told WFAA they are doing much the same: informing immigrant communities to trust local authorities so that police can respond to crimes when they happen.
“Unless you have a warrant for arrest or a deportation warrant, ICE has assured us, and so have the other federal agencies, they’re not going to come looking for anybody,” added Reyes. “They’re looking for specific individuals.”
But until rumors to the contrary are put to rest, these conversations, in a climate of fear and uncertainty, will continue.
“Our purpose is to protect everyone,” said Reyes, “make sure everybody’s safe, regardless of what their status is.”
