GovERNoR GnE,c Aseorr
October 26,2015
The Honorable Lupe Yaldez

Dallas County
133 North Industrial Boulevard, LB

31

Dallas, Texas 7 5207 -4313

Dear SheriffValdez:
"Sanctuary City" policies like those promoted by your recent decision to implement your own case-by-case
immigrani detentiòn plan will no longer be tolerated in Texas. Your decision to not fully honor U.S. Immigration &
Customs Enforcement's (ICE) requests to detain criminal immigrants poses a serious danger to Texans. These
detainers provide ICE with the critical notice and time it needs to take incarcerated immigrants into federal custody.
Kate Steinle was brutally murdered last summer in San Francisco by an undocumented immigrant who was released
by a local sheriffwho refused to honor ICE's detainer request. It is unacceptable for a Texas Sheriffto take a
similarly dangerous path by departing from the strictest ICE standards. The ICE Director has forewarned that
reduced coopãration from iocal governments - like Sheriffs -"may increase the risk that dangerous criminals are
returned to tbe streets, putting the public and our offtcers at great risk."

ICE immigration detainers request that your office provide federal immigration authorities an opportunity to collect
and removi criminal aliens in your custody before they are released on Texas streets. The U.S. Department of
Homeland Security has declared that the purpose of the program you are unwilling to fully enforce is tailored for
subjects related to "threats to national security, border security, and public safety," including "aliens engaged in or
suspected of terrorism or espionage."

your refusal to fully participate in a federal law enforcement program intended to keep dangerous criminals off the
streets leaves the Staie no choice but to take whatever actions are necessary to protect our fellow Texans' Policies
like yours compel Texas to take action to protect Texans' safety and to reduce the costs that those policies may
impose on Texas taxpayers.

prohibit any policy or action like yours that promotes sanctuary to people
in this state illegally. The State must also enact laws that make it illegal for a Sheriff's Department to not honor a
federal immigration detainer request. Texas must also evaluate the extent to which local taxpayers should foot the
bill for local ãecisions that increase costs for our health and education systems. Further, the State should consider
amending the Tort Claims Act to ensure counties are fully financially responsible for the actions of any illegal
immigrañts who are released because the county's Sheriff failed to honor an ICE detainer request.

At

a minimum, Texas must pass laws that

Now more than ever, it is essential that state, federal, and local law enforcement work collaboratively to protect our
fellow Texans and to ensure that our laws are upheld, not disregarded.
Respectfully,

Greg Abbott

Governor
TEXas 78771512463-2000 (VOICE) Dr^L7-L-l FoR RELAY SERVICES

Posr Orrrce 8ox72428
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