COMMUNITY PETITION: PAUSE AND PUBLICLY REVIEW JASPER’S 287(g) AGREEMENT

To: Mayor Clark McLane, Jasper City Council, Jasper Police Department, and Jasper County Sheriff’s Office
From: Concerned residents, families, workers, business owners, faith communities, and supporters of Jasper, Texas

We, the undersigned, are asking the City of Jasper to pause implementation and publicly reconsider the Jasper Police Department’s agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the 287(g) Task Force Model.

This petition is about more than immigration policy.

It is about local control, public trust, transparency, privacy, accountability, and what kind of policing is appropriate for a small community like Jasper.

On July 13, 2026, the Jasper City Council unanimously approved a Memorandum of Agreement between ICE and the Jasper Police Department. The 287(g) Task Force Model is significant because it allows specially trained local officers to exercise certain federal immigration-enforcement powers while carrying out ordinary police duties.

That is a major change in the relationship between local police and the people they serve, and our community deserves a meaningful opportunity to examine its consequences.

1. Jasper is a small community. That makes trust especially important.

Jasper had 6,884 residents in the 2020 Census, with the Texas Demographic Center estimating roughly 7,500 residents in early 2024.

In a town this size, police officers are not anonymous. They respond to our homes, our businesses, our schools, our churches, our traffic accidents, and our calls for help.

That is exactly why trust matters.

When local officers are also given federal immigration-enforcement authority, families may reasonably begin wondering whether an ordinary encounter with police could turn into an immigration investigation.

Whatever a person’s views on federal immigration policy, Jasper should carefully consider whether placing immigration enforcement inside routine local policing makes residents more willing—or less willing—to call police, report crimes, serve as witnesses, and cooperate with investigations.

2. Texas law does not require Jasper Police Department to choose the 287(g) Task Force Model.

Texas Senate Bill 8 requires certain county sheriffs operating jails to enter into immigration-enforcement agreements with ICE.

It does not require the City of Jasper or the Jasper Police Department to participate in the 287(g) Task Force Model.

That distinction matters.

Participation by Jasper Police Department was a local policy decision, and local policy decisions should remain open to local scrutiny.

The community has every right to ask:

Why was this particular model chosen?

What problem inside Jasper city limits was it intended to solve?

What alternatives were considered?

What limits will be placed on officers exercising immigration authority during traffic stops, calls for service, accidents, workplace encounters, or other routine police activity?

Those questions deserve clear answers.

3. Immigration authority combined with surveillance raises serious privacy concerns.

Automated license-plate-reader systems such as Flock Safety can collect searchable information showing where and when vehicles pass camera locations.

Civil-liberties organizations have raised serious concerns about how these systems can create large networks of location data and how that information may be shared across law-enforcement agencies and, under some circumstances, with federal agencies including ICE and DHS.

That does not mean every use of a license-plate reader is unlawful.

It means the public deserves to know exactly how Jasper’s information is collected, retained, searched, and shared.

These concerns are not theoretical or limited to Jasper. Communities across Texas are questioning how much surveillance is appropriate. Hood County recently moved to shut down Flock cameras amid privacy and mass-surveillance concerns, while Guadalupe County terminated its Flock contract following public scrutiny, vandalism, costs, and contractual concerns.

Jasper residents deserve the same opportunity to ask hard questions before surveillance technology and immigration-enforcement authority become intertwined.

4. Jasper’s history makes community trust especially important.

Jasper knows better than many communities how quickly questions involving race, policing, and equal treatment can affect the reputation and unity of an entire town.

Our history should not be used to divide us.

It should teach us to be more careful.

Policies that could disproportionately affect immigrant families, Latino residents, workers, mixed-status families, or anyone who fears being questioned about immigration status deserve heightened transparency and public oversight.

Immigrant-rights organizations have repeatedly warned that programs combining local policing with federal immigration enforcement can create fears of racial profiling and discourage immigrants from interacting with local law enforcement.

Whether city officials agree with those organizations or not, those concerns are serious enough to deserve a public response.

5. This is about priorities and accountability.

The Jasper Police Department currently reports having 26 sworn officers serving our small city.

Our community supports effective policing, officer training, investigation of serious crimes, emergency response, and keeping dangerous people off our streets.

But supporting public safety does not require giving every available enforcement power to local government.

There is a legitimate difference between having the resources needed to keep Jasper safe and expanding local policing into federal immigration enforcement.

Before Jasper goes further down that road, the people who live with the consequences deserve a seat at the table.

WE THEREFORE REQUEST:

1. Hold a public hearing on the 287(g) agreement.
Provide residents with a dedicated public meeting where city officials, police leadership, immigrant families, civil-rights advocates, business owners, and other residents can ask questions and provide testimony.

2. Pause implementation of the 287(g) Task Force Model pending that hearing.
No Jasper officer should begin exercising delegated immigration authority until the community has been fully informed about the program’s scope and consequences.

3. Publish the complete 287(g) agreement and implementation policies.
Release the signed Memorandum of Agreement, training requirements, scope of authority, ICE supervision requirements, complaint procedures, expected costs, funding sources, liability provisions, and any local policies governing when officers may exercise immigration authority.

4. Provide full transparency regarding automated license-plate-reader surveillance.
Disclose whether Jasper uses Flock Safety or another ALPR system; the number and general locations of cameras; retention periods; search policies; agencies authorized to access Jasper data; audit logs; and whether ICE, DHS, or another federal immigration agency has searched, requested, or received Jasper-generated data.

5. Establish clear civil-rights protections.
Adopt written policies prohibiting immigration questioning or enforcement based solely on race, ethnicity, language, accent, occupation, neighborhood, or appearance, and establish a transparent complaint and review process.

6. Keep community policing the priority.
Focus Jasper’s resources on violent crime, property crime, emergency response, de-escalation, mental-health response, traffic safety, and building relationships with the people officers are sworn to serve.

Jasper is our home.

We want our police officers to know our community—and we want our community to trust its police officers.

No parent should hesitate to report a crime.
No victim should fear calling 911.
No witness should be afraid to speak with an officer.
No resident should wonder whether ordinary local policing has quietly become federal immigration enforcement.

Public safety and civil rights are not opposing goals. Jasper deserves both.

We are asking our elected officials to pause, listen, disclose the facts, and give this community the public discussion it deserved before this agreement was approved.

A YES VOTE WILL BE REMEMBERED — AND JASPER VOTERS HAVE RECALL POWER

The August 24 vote is not merely about accepting outside funding. According to the Department of Justice’s grant requirements, applicants must already participate in a 287(g) partnership or commit to entering and fully participating in one. A vote to pursue this funding could therefore move Jasper toward a formal immigration-enforcement arrangement involving federal immigration authorities.

That decision deserves careful public scrutiny because a 287(g) agreement can expand the role of local law-enforcement personnel in immigration enforcement. Depending on the specific agreement, participating officers may receive federal training and authority to perform certain immigration-related functions, including identifying, processing, detaining, or transferring individuals for immigration purposes. These responsibilities can affect department priorities, staffing, training, liability, jail operations, community trust, and the relationship between residents and local government.

Council members should therefore understand exactly what a YES vote represents. It is not simply an administrative vote or a routine grant application. It may be a vote to pursue federal funding tied to a broader immigration-enforcement commitment—one that could have lasting consequences for Jasper residents, local resources, and the city’s relationship with immigrant and mixed-status families.

Residents have the right to know:

* What specific 287(g) model or agreement would be pursued;
* Which city department or officers would participate;
* What training, supervision, and reporting requirements would apply;
* How much local funding, staff time, jail capacity, or equipment would be required;
* What legal, financial, and operational liabilities the city could assume;
* Whether the agreement could be terminated and under what conditions; and
* What safeguards would protect residents from racial profiling, unlawful detention, retaliation, or the misuse of local authority.

Before any commitment is made, the public should receive the complete grant application, proposed agreement, fiscal analysis, legal review, implementation plan, and any written assurances concerning civil rights and community oversight. Residents should also have a meaningful opportunity to review the proposal and speak before the Council takes action.

The people of Jasper are not powerless once an election is over.

Article VI of the Jasper Home Rule Charter expressly reserves to Jasper voters the power to recall elected city officials. The Charter provides for recall on the stated grounds of incompetency, misconduct, or malfeasance in office.

Under the Charter, a recall petition requires signatures from qualified voters equal to at least 30% of the votes cast at the last regular municipal election, and never fewer than 150 qualified voters. Signatures used for the petition must also comply with the Charter’s filing requirements, including applicable timing and verification rules.

A recall is not automatic, and a single vote does not by itself establish incompetency, misconduct, or malfeasance. However, Council members’ decisions, statements, disclosures, and actions concerning this proposal can be documented and evaluated by the public under the standards established by the Charter.

If members of this Council vote YES to move this immigration-enforcement funding forward, their individual votes will be documented and made public. Residents will also be watching whether Council members provide complete information, answer legitimate questions, disclose the proposal’s costs and risks, and respect the public’s right to meaningful participation.

If residents believe the legal grounds established by the City Charter have been met, we will organize, educate voters, preserve the public record, and pursue every lawful accountability mechanism available to us—including the recall process contained in Jasper’s own Charter.

This is not a threat.

This is democracy. This is accountability. And this is a power the citizens of Jasper already possess.

If you live, work, worship, own a business, raise a family, or care about the future of Jasper, Texas, please add your name.

PETICIÓN COMUNITARIA: PREOCUPACIONES SOBRE EL ACUERDO 287(g) EN JASPER, TEXAS
Para: Concejo Municipal de Jasper, Alcalde Gary Gatlin, Sheriff del Condado de Jasper, y Departamento de Policía de la Ciudad de Jasper
De: Residentes Preocupados de Jasper, Texas
Nosotros, los residentes abajo firmantes de Jasper, Texas, escribimos para expresar serias preocupaciones sobre la reciente aprobación de la Ciudad de Jasper para unirse al Modelo de Grupo de Trabajo (Task Force Model) 287(g) de ICE, y su combinación con la expansión de la vigilancia y el patrullaje policial en nuestra comunidad pequeña y unida.
Esto no se trata de estar a favor o en contra de la aplicación de leyes de inmigración. Se trata de confianza, escala, y qué tipo de policía necesita un pueblo de menos de 7,000 habitantes.
1. Somos un pueblo pequeño con una tasa baja de delitos graves dentro de los límites de la ciudad
Jasper no es una ciudad de alta criminalidad que justifique poderes policiales federales ampliados.
Según datos del Censo de EE.UU., la población de la ciudad de Jasper fue de 6,875 en el Censo de 2020 y se estima en alrededor de 7,299-7,511 hoy — un pueblo de menos de 7,000-7,500 residentes en 10.4 millas cuadradas.
Los informes de City-Data / FBI para Jasper muestran lo bajo que es el delito grave dentro de los límites de la ciudad:
En 2024: 0 asesinatos, 3 violaciones (39.1 por 100k), 4 robos (52.1 por 100k), 18 asaltos
En 2025: 0 asesinatos, 4 violaciones, 1 robo, 28 asaltos
El índice general de criminalidad de City-Data para Jasper en 2025 es 244, cercano al promedio de EE.UU. de 228.4, y la tendencia muestra que los delitos contra la propiedad han disminuido en los últimos 5 años, mientras que los delitos violentos se mantienen bajos en números absolutos.
Para una comunidad tan pequeña, donde todos nos conocemos por nombre, cada interacción con la policía es importante para la confianza.
2. Combinar el 287(g) con las cámaras Flock crea una sensación de "estado policial"
Los residentes ya han expresado preocupaciones de privacidad y exceso de control sobre las cámaras de seguridad Flock en Jasper. El Jefe de Policía Garrett Foster ha tenido que abordar públicamente la historia de Flock, su financiamiento, la recolección de datos y quién tiene acceso. El Sheriff del Condado de Jasper, Chuck Havard, también ha hablado sobre preocupaciones de Flock respecto al exceso de poder del gobierno y la vigilancia.
La preocupación es nacional y está documentada: Debido a que Flock almacena datos en una base de datos nacional, cualquier agencia policial con contrato Flock puede acceder y compartir estos datos con otras agencias, incluyendo agencias federales como ICE, a menudo sin órdenes judiciales.
Cuando se combina:
•  Lectores automáticos de placas que rastrean cada auto que entra/sale de nuestro pueblo
•  Oficiales deputados bajo 287(g) para realizar tareas limitadas de aplicación de leyes de inmigración
•  Una ley estatal (SB 😎 que requerirá que casi todos los sheriffs de Texas soliciten acuerdos 287(g)
...ya no se siente como policía comunitaria. Se siente como vigilancia constante en un lugar donde los niños andan en bicicleta a la tienda.
Dos condados de Texas, Hood y Guadalupe, ya han descontinuado Flock por preocupaciones de privacidad.
3. Jasper tiene un historial de escándalos policiales que hacen que la confianza sea frágil
Nuestra comunidad aún lleva las heridas del escrutinio nacional. Jasper se hizo conocido internacionalmente después del asesinato por motivos raciales de James Byrd Jr. el 7 de junio de 1998. El Texas Observer ha documentado cómo el despido del primer jefe de policía negro de Jasper, y luego una golpiza grabada en video que un gran jurado absolvió, reavivó las tensiones raciales.
Hemos trabajado duro para sanar. El exceso de vigilancia policial ahora corre el riesgo de reabrir esas heridas. Cuando los residentes temen que una parada de tráfico de rutina pueda convertirse en un control de inmigración o en una entrada permanente en una base de datos nacional, dejan de llamar a la policía, dejan de reportar crímenes y dejan de cooperar — lo que nos hace MENOS seguros.
4. Exceso de policía para un pueblo pequeño: Demasiados recursos para tan pocos residentes
En 2025, Jasper tenía 25 empleados policiales de tiempo completo, incluyendo 18 oficiales para aproximadamente 7,500 personas, o 2.35 oficiales por cada 1,000 residentes — ya por encima del promedio de Texas de 2.25. En 2024, eran 22 oficiales con 2.87 por 1,000.
Las fuerzas policiales comunitarias han recibido recientemente donaciones para más capacitación y más equipo. Para un pueblo de menos de 7,000 residentes con 0 asesinatos el año pasado, los residentes preguntan: ¿cuándo es suficiente? Más capacitación es bienvenida, pero más poderes federales y vigilancia no es lo que una comunidad de bajo crimen y muy unida pidió.
Por lo tanto, solicitamos respetuosamente:
1.  Una audiencia pública antes de que se implemente cualquier Modelo de Grupo de Trabajo 287(g), con divulgación completa de costos, responsabilidad, horas de capacitación y acuerdos de intercambio de datos con ICE y Flock.
2.  Una moratoria sobre la activación de poderes 287(g) dentro de los límites de la ciudad de Jasper hasta que se complete una evaluación independiente de confianza comunitaria.
3.  Transparencia sobre Flock: Publicar ubicaciones de cámaras Flock, políticas de retención de datos, quién tiene acceso y si ICE ha accedido a datos de Jasper.
4.  Enfoque en policía comunitaria: Priorizar la desescalada, la respuesta de salud mental y la construcción de confianza sobre la aplicación de leyes de inmigración y la vigilancia masiva.
Jasper es un buen pueblo. Nos cuidamos unos a otros. No queremos convertirnos en un lugar donde los vecinos tengan miedo de manejar a la iglesia, la escuela o el trabajo porque podrían ser rastreados y cuestionados.
Si vive, trabaja, practica su fe o es dueño de un negocio en Jasper, Texas, por favor firme abajo.