‘Expect more danger,’ Fort Worth council candidate says of migrant teens in Dallas
A candidate for Fort Worth City Council said he would “take care of business” if undocumented immigrants come to the city, calling an influx of migrants a potential danger.
During a Steer FW virtual council candidate forum on Thursday, Michael Caceres said the top concern facing Fort Worth is a “busload of illegal immigrants that just came into Dallas.” Caceres said it would be an issue because many Fort Worth residents consider Dallas close enough to drive to for dinner.
“I’m telling you, that is a serious issue,” he said. “Expect more people to come this way, expect more danger and expect me to represent us well and, if I’m elected, to take care of business.”
Caceres, who described himself as a school counselor and former Marine, is running for District 3, a sprawling district that includes far west Fort Worth and the growing Walsh development. The Fort Worth school district lists Caceres as third- through fifth-grade counselor at South Hills Elementary School.
The comments appear out of touch with the complex immigration situation, said Felipe Gutierrez, a Fort Worth civic leader and immigrant. Gutierrez came to the United States from Mexico as an infant when relatives living in San Antonio adopted him. He said Caceres’ comments seemed to lack an understanding of who is being housed in Dallas.
“We’re talking about separation of children. We’re talking about asylum seekers,” Gutierrez said. “I think this particular candidate lacks a little bit of experience and maybe even lacks a little bit of empathy.”
The federal government plans to house up to 3,000 immigrant teenagers at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas in an effort to alleviate pressure on border facilities seeing a spike in traffic. The convention center will house boys ages 15 to 17, according to the Associated Press. The Border Patrol also operates a tent facility in Donna, which holds more than 1,000 children and teenagers. Some of the children there are as young as 4, the Associated Press reported.
The border has seen a surge in activity this year, which Republican lawmakers have blamed on President Joe Biden’s immigration policies. Authorities encountered children traveling alone 9,457 times in February, the Associated Press reported, nearly double the number in January and the highest since May 2019. Biden has promised to break from more restrictive border policies seen during the Trump administration, including ending a policy that required migrants to wait in Mexico. Biden has left some Trump policies in place, including the immediate expulsions of immigrant adults and families under a coronavirus public-health declaration.
It was not immediately clear what danger Caceres was referring to regarding migrant children or how he would handle it if they were placed in Fort Worth. He did not return a Star-Telegram call seeking clarification about his comments Friday. During the forum he said he could speak on authority about immigration because he is originally from the Rio Grande Valley.
While Gutierrez said he couldn’t speak for Fort Worth’s entire Hispanic community, he said he worried Caceres would not represent the community well.
“If this is his ongoing approach to being attentive and listening to the facts and being informed in order to make decisions for the citizens of Fort Worth, then I would simply say: ‘Get out of the race,’” Gutierrez said. “But if he’s going to take the time research this and he spoke out of turn, then let’s have a conversation.”
The SteerFW forum was for candidates running in council districts 2 through 5 and was hosted through Facebook Live and Zoom. By Friday afternoon the video post had received more than 600 views.
Caceres is running against Tonya Carter, Michael Crain, Daniel “Double T” Fattori, Andy Gallagher, Katie Johnson, Anne Low and Adrian Devine Smith. The election is May 1.
Crain, the only other District 3 candidate at the forum, said in an email Saturday he found the comments odd and out of place for a question that focused on Fort Worth’s future.
“Given the events over the last year and especially last year nationally, I think any viable candidate needs to be focused on how to make Fort Worth a better place to live, work and raise families for all of our citizens,” he said.
At least one person viewing the live stream of the SteerFW forum thought the comments were out of line.
“Don’t vote detached & delusional Michael Caceres,” April Thompkins wrote in the comments.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 4:27 PM.
