For the first time in North Texas, immigrants without state ID will be allowed to use parish identification cards to identify themselves with Farmers Branch, Carrollton and Dallas Police Department officers. Dallas Area Interfaith leaders negotiated this ground breaking police department policy change in the aftermath of the passage of anti-immigrant State Senate Bill 4, in order to engender greater trust between police and immigrants.
More than 1,500 immigrant leaders filled the sanctuary at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Farmers Branch in a standing-room-only assembly of leaders across multiple faiths and denominations. Three women shared stories of anti-immigrant abuse and community fears about reporting crimes to the police while lacking access to state-issued IDs. Friar Luis Arraiza of Nuestra Señora de Lourdes and Fr. Mike Walsh of from Holy Trinity explicitly challenged the chiefs of Farmers Branch, Carrollton and Dallas Police Departments to publicly commit to accepting parish identification cards as a means of identifying oneself during a police stop. All three said, 'yes,' to thunderous applause.
The largest applause, however, was reserved for Catholic Bishop Edward Burns who pledged, "the Church will do whatever it needs to do to stand with immigrants."
Nine years prior, Farmers Branch was best-known for being the first Texas city to pass an anti-immigrant ordinance, which included fines for landlords renting to undocumented immigrants. The police department paid a price in community trust -- one motivation for publicly pledging to accept parish IDs.
This approval will help the estimated 231,000 immigrants who call Dallas home.
Hundreds Meet to Discuss Immigration, Parish ID Card, Texas Catholic
Inmigrantes Sin Licencia Podrán Usar Otro Tipo de Identificación Ante PolicÃas de Dallas, Carrollton y Farmers Branch, Al DÃa Dallas
Immigrants Without State ID Will Be Allowed to Use Other Forms if Stopped by Dallas-area Police, Dallas Morning News
Policia: Cualquier Identificación Sirve Durante Una Detención, Telemundo
Realizan un Foro Comunitario Sobre Inmigrantes en Farmers Branch, Univision
Live Stream of Assembly, Catholic Diocese of Dallas