DALLAS — Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said the city would support efforts by President-elect Donald Trump to deport undocumented migrants accused of violent crimes in an interview on Fox News.
Johnson made the comments during the interview last week after he was asked how Dallas is addressing migrants and whether or not he would support efforts to deport them.
“Of course, we’d support that,” Johnson said during the segment. “Of course, we’d stand by President Trump in an effort to get rid of people in our country illegally who have violent criminal records or who commit violent criminal acts here. But even more than that, people need to understand it’s a strain on our hospital system, there are hidden costs to having a porous, open border, and we need to shut that down.”
As the mayor of Dallas, Johnson doesn’t have the power to unilaterally direct city policy regarding undocumented immigrants. Dallas has a council-manager form of government in which the city manager oversees city operations, and the mayor and the 14 city council members have equal voting power on policies.
Johnson’s comments have come under fire from some fellow city council members.
“As the son of formerly undocumented immigrants, I find the mayor’s remarks not only deeply misleading, but also harmful in their fearmongering. It’s easy for Eric to say the city will help deport immigrants committing violent crimes,” Dallas City Council member Jaime Resendez said in a post on social media. “It sounds good, but the problem is that he’s scapegoating immigrants for political gain by conflating immigration with criminality and portraying undocumented people as a burden on our schools and hospitals.”
"The Latino community of Dallas needs to know they are safe, that they are welcome here. And it’s outrageous to have someone who calls themselves a leader in this city say otherwise," Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam Bazaldua added.
He added that the mayor cannot set policy for Dallas independently of the city's 14 council members.
"The mayor has a vote that weighs just as much as mine," Bazaldua said. "You need seven colleagues on this council to get anything done."
A city of Dallas spokesperson referred requests for comment to Johnson's office. His office did not respond to a WFAA request for an interview.
The Dallas city council in June passed a resolution condemning a delayed state law that would allow police to arrest people suspected of illegally entering Texas from Mexico.
The city council passed the nonbinding resolution 11-3, with Johnson, city council member Cara Mendelsohn and Paul Ridley voting against it.
The law, Senate Bill 4, was passed by state lawmakers last year and was supposed to take effect in March, but legal challenges from the U.S. Justice Department and immigration advocacy groups have prevented it from going into effect as it makes its way through the courts. Proponents of the law say it will improve national security, while opponents and immigration advocacy groups say the law encroaches on the federal government’s authority over immigration and could lead to racial profiling by police, as the Texas Tribune reported.
Trump has promised mass deportations after being inaugurated in January and then on TruthSocial on Nov. 18 he seemed to confirm that he’s considering declaring a national emergency to support the deportation efforts.
Johnson’s interview comes after Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham sent a letter last week offering a 1,400-acre state-owned ranch as a site to build detention centers for his promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
Johnson has served as Dallas’ mayor since 2019 and served in the state legislature as a Democrat for about nine years before that.
Johnson made headlines when he declared himself a Republican in 2023 and fended off efforts to recall him. He spoke at the Republican National Committee this year endorsing Trump.
