Haltom City manager calls police on immigration activists

Editor’s note: This story has been updated. An earlier version incorrectly stated that Haltom City manager Keith Lane had been shown a copy of United Fort Worth’s public records request.

Members of United Fort Worth, a grassroots coalition aiming to raise awareness on immigration issues, say they were surprised and disturbed when the city manager called police on them as they stood outside his office earlier this month.

Haltom City was one of 12 Tarrant County cities targeted by the group with open records requests seeking information regarding 287(g), a federal program in which law enforcement agencies voluntarily cooperate with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Mindia Whittier, a United Fort Worth member who was part of the group that visited Haltom City that day, said that fellow activist Andres Pacheco approached the door frame of the city manager’s office and stated their concerns about programs like 287(g).

“When Andres [made his statement], Andres lifted – he did not push and did not move his arms forward – the poster from chest height up to his face,” Whittier recalled. “As soon as he did that, the city manager said ’Stop threatening me, you need to leave or you will be arrested.’ Andres did not enter the office. He stood in the doorway. His arms were in front of him at all times.”

For Pacheco, the incident was particularly disturbing.

“I felt threatened,” he said. “I thought at some point that I may get arrested because the city manager didn’t like what I told him. I was exercising my right to free speech and my right to speak to a city official.”

Haltom City manager Keith Lane said a man repeatedly held a sign close to his (Lane’s) face. The sign said, “Transparency in Tarrant, #end287g.”

“About every 30 seconds, he would stick the sign in my face. I said, ‘You need to stop.’ Someone said ‘This is a public building.’”

Lane said the group was causing a disturbance which is why he called police to have them escorted from City Hall. United Fort Worth talked to a police officer in the parking lot without incident.

“The group that talks about transparency left out the first five minutes of the video when the guy kept sticking the sign in my face,” Lane said referring to a video later posted by the group on its Facebook page.

Whittier said she thought Lane’s reaction to the group’s activity was more strange than the police being called.

“It’s concerning that the city manager didn’t even ask how he could help us, or to schedule an appointment to discuss it,” she said. “His immediate reaction was ’Stop threatening me, and if you don’t leave now you’ll be arrested.’ What was so odd was that it escalated so quickly.”

United Fort Worth members say they are particularly interested in obtaining information from Haltom City about the June 3 arrest of Maria Molina, who they describe as a domestic violence victim who was seeking asylum. Molina was arrested when police responded to a domestic disturbance. United Fort Worth said that she was arrested after throwing a mug at her partner’s head, and that she was defending herself.

Molina was turned over to ICE and was detained at the Prairieland Detention Center near Alvarado until she was deported to El Salvador in August. Molina is also separated from her 6- and 12-year-old daughters in Haltom City.

The Star-Telegram sent an open records request to Haltom City for the police report in Molina’s case, and received an email stating that the request was sent to the state attorney general’s office for review and that the police report could not be released because Molina’s case is still open.

United Fort Worth’s visit to Haltom City on Sept. 11 was part of a joint effort by United Fort Worth and four other organizations to deliver open records requests to 12 Tarrant County cities and municipalities seeking information on the effect of the 287(g) program on their communities.

The effort began last spring when an open records request was sent to the Tarrant County sheriff’s department. The joint group — United Fort Worth, Faith in Texas, Mavericks United and RAICES — then sent requests to 40 cities in Tarrant County.

So far the group has received information from four of the 40 cities: North Richland Hills, Dalworthington Gardens, Benbrook and Everman. The responses ranged from acknowledgements of the request to providing their policies on immigration violations.

United Fort Worth told the Star-Telegram that Haltom City was the only city of the 12 visited where police were called when they approached officials about their campaign.

This story was originally published September 26, 2018 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Haltom City manager calls police on immigration activists."