Sanctuary City: Texas Sheriff Pulls Back on ICE Detention Holds

While running for re-election, Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez has moved her county more into the column of Sanctuary City status by easing back on immigration holds on jailed immigrants. Legal immigrants and illegal aliens who have been jailed on minor offenses will no longer be held for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials as had been done in the past.

The new policy applies to people who have committed minor offenses, the Dallas Morning News (DMN) reported. The sheriff has ordered that these offenders not be held for an additional 48 hours for ICE officials as has been done in the past. Her order moves Dallas County in line with 300 other cities and counties across the nation who have officially restricted their cooperation with ICE. This information comes from the Catholic Legal Immigration Network according to the DMN.

“No matter what we do, someone is going to get upset,” Valdez told DMN reporters. “We can’t base our decisions on who is going to get upset with us. We have to base our decisions on what is best for the whole.” She did not elaborate on how releasing criminal illegal aliens into the community before ICE is able to determine if there is grounds for detention or deportation makes her community safer.

The move appears to have come following the leftist Texas Organizing Project’s call for leniency for illegal aliens in jail. “Whose side is she really on?” asked immigration advocate Danny Cendejas. “If she is on our side, prove it.”

During the fiscal year that ended September 30, Dallas County had held 2,048 people on immigration holds. This is up from 1,930 during the previous fiscal year, the DMN reported from Dallas County jail statistics.

Sheriff Lopez said the decisions on ICE detention holds would not be based on felonies vs. misdemeanors. Instead her department will look at the holds on a case-by-case basis.

“Immigration is a federal law. I don’t know why they keep expecting me to take care of federal issues,” she said in the DMN interview. “We make our decisions based on reason, safety and what’s best for the community,” she said.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.