I.C.E. M.O.U. WITH DENTON COUNTY SHERIFF SAME AS BISD'S?

By Juan Montoya
Several of our seven readers have expressed some interest in the proposed Memorandum Of Understanding between the U.S. Dept. of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the  the Brownsville Independent School District Police Dept. to be considered Tuesday by the board of trustees during their 4 p.m. meeting.
The BISD – unlike the City of Brownsville and the Cameron County judge's office – does not make the backup materials to agenda items public or posts them online. So the public has no idea what the justification for the MOU and, more importantly, the obligations that the BISD will have under the terms of the agreement.

Now, since the ICE mission statement is "to promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration," we can only surmise it has to do something with these topics.
The beauty of the MOU is its vagueness. We obtained a sample MOU that ICE executed with the Denton County Sheriff's Dept. (Click on bottom graphic to enlarge) and in it both parties stipulate that it is "for the purpose of the reimbursement of costs incurred by (Denton County Sheriff) in providing resources to joint operations."
District cops will be paid overtime if the operations are included in the annual ICE Fiscal Plan and money is available within the Treasury Forfeiture Fund to satisfy the reimbursement of overtime expenses related to joint operations.
The MOU states that – to the extent that the BISD Police Dept. submits requests for reimbursement and there are forfeiture funds available – ICE will pay district police for overtime and other expenses.
Now, we know that I.C.E., among other things, investigates all types of cross-border activities including : "Immigration, document and benefit fraud, narcotics and weapons smuggling/trafficking, and transnational gang activity."
Will BISD police be asked to participate in investigations of students who they suspect may be here illegally using fake addresses to attain residence requirements to attend school? Will they launch sting operations to nab students selling pot to others? And will they launch surveillance of students they think may be members of Tamaulipas gangs or the cartels?
And once in the MOU, will the BISD cops be under the control of their ICE handlers or the BISD board of trustees?
None of this, we're sure, will be included in the BISD-ICE MOU. But is the mission of the district cops to be enlarged to include federal mandates followed by ICE?
After all, the mission and goals of the BISD PD are: "dedicated to promoting safety, health, education, cultural awareness, good character, and leadership skills. It is our mission to help young people improve their lives by building self-esteem, and developing good values and skills during critical years of growth.
"Our goal is to continue to provide a culture of safety, security, and emergency preparedness that must be integrated into the overall school culture in a balanced, rational, and comprehensive way that is non-alarmist, but proactive and progressive in nature."
Aren't these two distinctively  differing missions mutually exclusive in their scope? Or will the district allow ICE to use the district's cops to moonlight as federal informants against the student body?