Mayor says vulgar vandal wrote four-letter ICE slur on family member’s property
The mayor of Keller, whose city has been actively helping with immigration enforcement since last summer, said someone vandalized a relative’s business with a four-letter slur against ICE.
Mayor Armin Mizani posted a photo on X of what appears to be a commercial sign with the indecent declaration scrawled in all caps.
“Let’s be clear,” the Republican mayor wrote on X. “In Texas, nothing will deter us from standing with law enforcement professionals who risk their lives to protect our communities and enforce the law.”
In August, the Keller City Council voted unanimously to participate in ICE’s 287(g) program, which grants local law enforcement the authority to perform certain immigration enforcement functions. Since then, Keller has been determining people’s immigration status when they are booked into a regional jail in the city.
About 30 people protested the council’s decision at the time. Keller was the first Tarrant County city to sign onto the 287(g) program.
In Mizani’s social media post about the vandalism, he included a message “to the naysayers who claimed Keller’s resolution and formal partnership with @ICEgov wouldn’t amount to anything.”
He said Keller’s jail has turned over 11 people to ICE since August. The offenses included outstanding warrants, theft, drunken driving, drug paraphernalia and fake license plates, Mizani said. The detainees had been arrested by police departments in Southlake, Colleyville, Westlake and Roanoke and brought to Keller’s jail.
Mizani also sent out a press release about the 11 detainees under the banner of his candidacy for Texas House District 98, saying “illegal immigrant crime doesn’t just happen at the border. It’s happening here in DFW, in our cities, towns, and neighborhoods.”
On Wednesday, Mizani told the Star-Telegram he couldn’t speculate whether Keller’s involvement in the 287(g) program had motivated the vulgar vandal. He said his relative’s property is not in the Keller area.
“Regarding my family member’s commercial property being vandalized this week, I cannot speak as to the person’s motivation, other than simply stating that criminal acts like that will not deter me from continuing to partner with the department of homeland security and ICE,” Mizani wrote in a text message to a reporter. “Law enforcement professionals deserve our support and in Keller we will continue to support the men and women of ICE.”
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office has participated in the 287(g) program since 2017.
In 2025, the Texas Legislature established a grant program for sheriff’s offices that are helping with immigration enforcement. The program started Jan. 1 to offer funding to offset costs including personnel, equipment and training.
On Thursday, Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock will meet with Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn, County Judge Tim O’Hare and other local leaders to publicize the grant program.
This story was originally published January 14, 2026 at 5:23 PM.