Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis Meets with Hispanic Leaders Amid ICE Concerns

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis met with Hispanic community groups on Monday morning to discuss worries about ICE actions in the city. The meeting took place at El Centro De Familia, the main office of Southwest Key Programs, a nonprofit organization led by Latinos. It was initially meant to be a casual gathering, but it became a talk about immigration enforcement.

After ICE announced "enhanced targeted operations" in Austin on Sunday, community members wanted to understand the role the Austin Police Department (APD) would play in federal immigration efforts. Davis told everyone that the APD does not usually work with ICE and does not plan to help with federal immigration enforcement.

Gloria Leal, the lawyer for LULAC, said that the City of Austin and the police do not communicate regularly with ICE, are unaware of ICE's activities, and currently do not plan to help ICE with immigration efforts.

About 50 community members attended the private meeting, including members from LULAC, Habla ATX, and the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce (TAMACC). Leaders want to keep talking with APD.

"This meeting will continue later because we want to collaborate with the Police Department," said Alicia Perez Hodge of Habla ATX.

Hispanic groups are working to fight misinformation and teach the community about their rights in response to worries. The Austin Latino Coalition aims to gather essential resources like they did during the COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, Habla ATX has announced plans for a more significant community meeting in the next few weeks.

Davis said that APD is working to understand better how federal programs function in Austin.

"We talked to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), ICE, and other federal agencies about what will happen." she said.

After the meeting, leaders felt relieved but agreed to continue discussing how to support and teach Austin's Hispanic community.

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