Ingram, Texas, is a river town of about 1,900 people. It was still digging out from the deadly July 2025 Guadalupe River flood when its police department signed on to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program called 287(g). The program turns local officers into deputy immigration agents. Mayor Claud Jordan and the Ingram City Council have the power to end that agreement, and they should do it now.

Since the town joined in October 2025, Police Chief Dustin Breshears says officers have logged 194 “immigration-related incidents,” according to ProPublica. That equals about one in ten Ingram residents. Many started as stops for small things on Junction Highway, like dark window tint or a missed turn signal.

The damage has spread across town. A new father was taken from his wife and their 2-week-old daughter just after Christmas. A 12-year-old boy with developmental disabilities ended up in ICE custody after a stop on his way to a soccer game. Workers rebuilding after the flood have been pulled off the job. One contractor fixing the flood-wrecked post office in nearby Hunt saw his crew drop from 30 workers to 8. Restaurants and corner stores have lost customers as families leave or steer clear of town.

The frustration crosses party lines. Neal Secor, a conservative business owner whose rental cabins were nearly destroyed by the flood, says four of his workers were picked up in these stops. “I voted to get the bad guys out,” he told ProPublica.

ICE rewards towns that join, with vehicle money, equipment stipends and overtime pay. No payment makes up for empty jobsites and broken families in a town still recovering from disaster.

Sign the petition to ask Mayor Jordan and the Ingram City Council to end the 287(g) agreement before more families and flood recovery crews are lost.