For the last three months, I have been part of a weekly clergy and faith leader’s prayer vigil that holds space and bears witness to the plight of our immigrant neighbors. The vigil takes place outside of the Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement — known as ICE — field office. It’s located in an administrative building where immigrants who are following the rules established by our government go for regular check-ins.
On July 21, someone whose partner had shown up to his regularly scheduled check-in and wasn’t allowed to leave approached us.
By being a constant presence, we were there to learn ICE and the Department of Homeland Security were holding more than 30 people in two makeshift rooms without air conditioning — in Texas, in the summer, no less — and no access to showers. They had no beds and received limited access to food and water.
The people who were being held had shown up to their regular appointments. They were following the rules established by the U.S. government for immigrants seeking to remain in the country. These people represented a variety of legal mechanisms recognized by our government. They were asylum-seekers, green card holders and people with Temporary Protected Status.
This is the point that bears repeating: The individuals being targeted by this administration are not violent criminals. They are people who have followed the rules we’ve laid out for them. They continue to show up to administrative appointments with immigration officials and to hearings on their rights to stay in this country, even though our own government is now breaking the rules we laid out for them.
When we learned people were being held in the administrative building, we utilized our networks to get the word out to local organizers, the press and elected officials. Because the building is federally operated, oversight rests with Congress.
Three U.S. congressional representatives issued a letter demanding answers to a series of questions about the treatment of those being held.
On July 28 — one week after we learned people were being held in the Dallas ICE administrative building — three U.S. congressional representatives issued a letter demanding answers to a series of questions about treatment of those being held. The letter also reiterated their oversight authority.
These three — Reps. Marc Veasey, Julie Johnson and Jasmine Crockett — are Democrats. Their districts cover most of Dallas and a number of other areas surrounding the city.
Reps. Veasey, Johnson and Crockett issued their letter at the same time the Texas redistricting fight was heating up.
On Aug. 1, during public testimony before the Texas House Committee on Congressional Redistricting, Rep. Crockett testified the new maps deliberately carve out her home address from the district she represents, effectively removing her from her congressional seat.
Ironically, Crockett isn’t even in one of the districts targeted by the Republicans. She and the constituents she represents would simply be collateral damage. The five Democratic districts intentionally targeted by the GOP include Rep. Johnson’s district in Dallas, as well as Rep. Al Green of Houston, Rep. Greg Casar of Austin, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of Corpus Christi and Rep. Henry Cueller of San Antonio.
But this kind of gerrymandering — which would impact two of the three Dallas representatives who sought accountability from ICE and DHS about unlawful detainment of immigrants — points to the interconnectedness of these two issues.
Texas — supposedly a bastion of advocacy for states’ rights — is redrawing its congressional maps early because the president of the United States asked that it be done.
Texas — supposedly a bastion of advocacy for states’ rights — is redrawing its congressional maps early because the president of the United States asked that it be done. He also said, “We (Republicans) are entitled to five more seats.”
Entitlement. That best describes the behavior of elected Republican officials.
The larger goal of the gerrymandering effort is for Republicans to hold a majority in the House at the midterms next year. But one cannot divorce the administration’s arbitrary quota for deportations from these new maps. The administration, Texas’ governor and the many Republican politicians feel entitled to dismiss the rule of law.
Meanwhile, the letter about the detentions at the Dallas ICE administrative office set a 10-day deadline for response. That deadline is this Friday, Aug. 8. While I fully expect these Dallas Representatives to continue pushing for answers, the bruhaha around the proposed new Texas congressional maps is taking the spotlight off of the actions of our local ICE office.
Lost in chaos was last week’s Dallas Morning News report on the illegal detentions by ICE.
This Monday, I was back at the weekly prayer vigil outside of the ICE administrative offices. We received word that, while those initially held there had been transferred, others have since been detained.
But our consistent, weekly presence will continue. It must, for in the words of Rev. William J. Barber II, “Every crucifixion needs a witness.” Certainly, those harmed as they follow the rules laid out by our government are entitled to that.
Mara Richards Bim serves as a Clemons Fellow with BNG and is the first Justice and Advocacy Fellow at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas. She is a spiritual director and a recent Master of Divinity degree graduate from Perkins School of Theology at SMU. She also is an award-winning theater artist and founder of the nationally acclaimed Cry Havoc Theater Company, which operated in Dallas from 2014 to 2023.
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