Good morning, everyone.

Welcome to City Council's work session for Monday, April 13th.

It's nice to see everyone in Council Chambers.

Bueno's the yes.

Ms.

Prime?

Good morning, everyone.

This is a work session of the El Paso City Council for Monday, April 13th, 2026.

It is 9.04 AM.

Mayor Pro Tem Chavez is present and presiding along with Representative Acevedo, Representative Alonado Rocha, Representative Boyatrejo, Representative Nino, Alternate Mayor Pro Tempiero, Representative Limon, Mayor Johnson has requested to be excused.

Mayor Pro Tem, we have a quorum.

Thank you, Miss Prime.

Representative Fierro, will you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Thank you, Mayor Prote.

And this morning we begin with a proclamation for National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week 2026.

Representative Trejo.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem Chavez.

Are they are they here?

Yes.

Oh, here we are.

And it reads, whereas the city of El Paso recognizes the professionalism, excellence, and dedication of public safety telecommunic telecommunicators who answer and dispatch nine one one calls each day.

And whereas public safety telecommunicators are first, first responders, serving as the initial and often most critical point of contact between the community and emergency services, and whereas public safety telecommunicators play an essential role in protecting police officers, firefighters, and paramedics by monitoring their activities through radio communications and relaying critical information.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that May twelfth through I mean I'm sorry, April twelfth through April eighteenth shall be known as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

Thank you all for joining us here today.

In moments of danger, they gather critical information and coordinate response that sends police officers, firefighters, and paramedics to those in need.

Their work requires not only technical skill and quick dedication, but also patience, empathy, and extraordinary resilience.

While much of their work takes place behind the scenes, the impact of what they do reaches throughout our entire community.

Every call answered represents someone in need of help, guidance, or hope.

Our telecommunicators are there every hour of every day, ready to serve.

This recognition is meaningful because it shines a light on a profession that is essential to our public safety, yet often unseen.

Today we pause to acknowledge the dedication, professionalism, and commitment to those who answer the call.

On behalf of all telecommunicators, thank you for your support, your recognition, and for helping us honor the individuals whose voices guide our community through its most critical moments.

We are proud to serve.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Can the team introduce themselves, please?

Yes, ma'am.

My name is Samantha Martinez.

I'm the public safety trainer.

I'm Sandra Ferrardo, I'm a fire dispatcher.

Good morning.

I'm Lenny Delphine, I'm the communications manager.

Um Cynthia Beltran, the communications assistant manager.

I'm Gracela Zamora, I'm a call taker.

Hello, I'm Jaime Gonzalez, I'm a supervisor.

I'm Value Ramitas, I'm also supervisor.

Good morning.

My name is Jacqueline Zamora, and I'm a public safety training supervisor.

Those in the back.

Those in the back.

Good morning, Jonathan Killings, Fire Chief.

Good morning, Dennis Rudd, Assistant Fire Chief.

Thank you and welcome for being here.

Representative Nino.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Temp, and I want to thank you guys all for all the work that you all do.

Public safety is a key priority for all of us, and you all are the very first individuals that when someone's seeking help, you guys are the ones who answer the call.

And you all help in the individuals stay calm and guide them through all the different resources and also keep our you know firemen and our police departments safe.

So thank you for all the work.

I know that there's a lot of many other individuals who are part of the team.

How many individuals are part of this team?

Chief.

So at the 91 Center, we have a total of uh exceeding 150 telecommunicators that uh serve all three functions.

So we have here today our call takers, our fire dispatchers, police dispatchers.

Uh, this is just a small sample.

Um, this entire week is telecommunicate uh National Telecommunicators Week.

So uh we'll be doing uh a series of events each single day this week so you all can come down and uh visit at any time uh and meet um all the telecommunicators there that that work there and serve.

Uh they work three different shifts, so any time during the day, 24 hours a day, you can come by and say hello.

Thank you for that.

No, and again, thank you for all the work that you all do.

I know that you know the city of Opaso has a lot of different partnerships as well to provide additional resources.

I could only imagine everything that you all hear and go through, so you guys have my full support, and thank you for again uh you know your service to the city of O Paso.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Representative Limon.

Thank you for being the voice that answers a call for our community.

Gracias.

Thank you.

Representative Rocha.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you all so much for everything that you do.

I just I I have to echo everything that that uh Rep Nino and Rep Limon have said, but everything that's left unsaid.

We are so grateful for everything that you do because you are that first point of contact that several of us, including myself have had to use.

And it's um it's very calming when you have somebody that is well trained that is able to walk you through probably one of the most uh terrible days in somebody's life.

So thank you all for everything that you do and putting yourself out there.

I'm very grateful.

Thank you.

And I want to reiterate my thanks to you as well for being that first line of defense for our community.

You are the first people that people count on when we talk about safety in our community.

And you are right, uh responding to those calls with a calm and very um intentional voice to make sure that people feel safe in our community is so important.

I know public safety telecommunicators received 240 million 911 calls each year, and uh you're dedicating your lives to serving the public, and so we appreciate you for your service, and we celebrate you today and every day.

Thank you so much.

Do you want us to take it?

That's my job.

It also has a picture option.

That's great.

So we get like vertical horizontal.

It's like all these appropriate cards.

Oh, right.

Wow, I gotta get on a pleasure.

For the record, Representative Canales joined the meeting at 9.08 AM.

That brings us to item number one, and this is presentation and discussion and update on the city of El Paso's federal legislative agenda for the one hundred and nineteenth United States Congress.

Good morning.

Okay.

Okay.

Um, so today's strategic and legislative affairs um is kicking things off.

We have the um distinct pleasure and honor to hopefully start off your week right with this presentation.

So this is going to be a presentation if you can hear me.

Oh, on um implementation updates for the City of El Paso's federal legislative agenda.

Get the mouse here.

Okay.

So no action is required for this item.

This is simply a presentation and update on the City of El Paso's federal legislative agenda.

Um it's reviewing the activities from the last quarter, but really for the previous year and discussing what you can look forward to for the following year.

So I'm gonna take a quick step back and talk about the big picture here.

Um we established the first ever federal legislative agenda for the city of El Paso about a year ago.

And really just taking a step back to say the purpose of this federal agenda is essentially to really build up our ability to attract and sustain federal funding.

The agenda itself details the principles and priorities that guide the city's advocacy on federal issues that impact the city.

So it promotes federal funding and supportive legislation for key city projects.

Really, what it's focused on is trying to secure federal funding to the best extent possible, especially to pursue these major projects for the city.

So that's including the advanced manufacturing district, expanding, modernizing the Islera Port of Entry, including presidential permitting, Fort Bliss Partnerships, DEC Plaza Development.

What it really comes down to is reducing the taxpayer burden.

If you want to see further details, I put the link to the agenda.

Okay.

So a little bit of a busy slide, but we wanted to show that essentially in our federal program, we have provided updates for each quarter in the past year since the agenda was developed.

So what we really have this for is for posterity.

Should you decide to look back at the various presentations that we've brought before city council.

But what really want to highlight here is that it's been a year since we established our federal legislative agenda.

That was March 3rd of last year.

And in addition to the agenda coming before City Council for your approval, it resulted in a discussion that came in April regarding how exactly we can translate our agenda to city council and city staff's presence in Washington DC.

So with that in mind, it's been a year, and we'll just take a look now at really what translated from that initial direction.

So the first, I think, look back for the past quarter, but really where this all found its fruition is through the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference.

So that did happen in the prior quarter in March 16th to 18th.

Just to briefly describe NLC in DC is an annual convening of more than 2,000 elected and appointed city leaders at municipal governments that convene and focus on federal issues that impact our local municipalities.

It's set the foundation and lessons for the coming year.

As we continue further engagements at the federal level, we can kind of glean lessons learned for moving forward for when we aim to do this next year and support preparation for next year's conference.

So we'll talk a little bit more about that.

So briefly, just to say the kind of advantages that come from El Paso's presence at this conference.

Really to focus on these competitive advantages and lessons in funding and advocacy.

And this really finds its fruition through our federal advocacy committees, of which I know that several of you are members of.

And this through this moderated panel, it uh we were able to kick off a discussion, giving our story to then talk about how we can promote civility and public discourse and kind of bridge those divides in our polarized environment.

So I it was a very compelling presentation.

And also to mention actual work set work sessions led by city staff by specifically community and human development led a workshop on affordable housing.

And I don't mention it here, but housing was really a major, major focus of the conference and across the country.

So that was that was quite compelling, I believe.

Um and then lastly, just the hill um hill visits and actual direct meetings, not just with our house representatives but also with senators that traditionally are a little bit more difficult to arrange with, and that was done in partnership with TML, which is to say there's this added benefit of having cities from across Texas also uh coalesce around this.

But really, what's what's especially um fortuitous and strategic about the National League of Cities Conference is that it coincides with a decision period where our House representatives make their decisions about which uh capital projects will be selected for community project funding.

This is kind of an outgrowth of what was previously known as EARMARCS, where we dedicate the House representatives dedicate appropriations for local capital projects.

So looking at our initiative on this front, we submitted I think the highest number of applications this year that we've had in city history, and this, you know, as an right after this conference ended, we heard the announcement of which city proposed projects were selected.

So it is a really strategic time for us to bring our stories and kind of uh basically explain why these projects should be prioritized.

The projects are listed here.

Ultimately, um the selections came down to 14.5 million dollars, and these are projects that were by the way, that's I think historically the largest amount of projects uh funding for projects selected.

And it's just to say when we say selections, um, this kicks off an entire year's worth of appropriations.

So it's just to say for the FY27, these were the projects that were chosen by our House delegation, and it was both Congresswoman Escobar and Congressman Tony Gonzalez.

So when we do this, we continue to work to ensure that we maintain the funding that is initially proposed.

So just kind of going into the next slide.

The picture that you see here is from a press conference.

So a year ago, uh, the projects were selected for FY26 appropriations and strategic and legislative affairs, um, along with uh, I guess moving forward, we'll talk about the lobbyists, but we really work to advocate and inform appropriations discussions so that the projects that were selected in the previous year will retain the kind of funding that was proposed.

So this is just what was awarded last year, seven million.

So it's it's um we're very very happy for this amount, but we can look forward to sustaining additional actually a larger pool of funding for the coming year.

And the press conference is available at this link.

Okay.

So this is a segue as well to say we were able to go physically to DC.

We set our legislative agenda, we work with you all, our city departments and our partners in DC to advance our federal legislative agenda.

Um that being said, we are uh putting forward in the future city council uh actually the end of this month, a request for a lobbyist for strategic for the city rather.

And what this will do is it will further enhance it, it will not just enhance our presence in DC, but sustain our work during the year in DC.

Um, while we return, we'll still have these added support to enhance our capacity.

Um, and the lobbyist is guided by our federal legislative agenda.

And it's not just our agenda, but the actual presence that they will offer, in particular, to support our connections with agencies to give us this kind of advanced understanding of potential funding opportunities.

Kind of the work on the back end really makes a difference to kind of even before an opportunity comes up that Al Pasos is at the table in those conversations, and also to support our growing work around military affairs.

And that's something that is an uh just growing aspect of the work that we're doing, a very important piece in our legislative agenda that calls for these increased partnerships.

So in addition to that, it'll also enhance our ability locally to build those partnerships with federal agencies, kind of like organizing our workload in a very in a more optimized way.

So with that, um this is going to come before you all at the April 28th City Council session.

Um it's something for for us to reflect on, and we're happy to support uh briefings and conversations in advance of this council session and really just um express how this is going to build on our success and enhance our capacities to draw more funding to the city at the federal level.

So that's that's really what you can look forward to for the coming council.

Um I mentioned that NLC kind of set the precedent for the following year.

So what this translates to, in addition to our sustained work and preparation for being present in DC is to also inform our engagements elsewhere.

So, for example, we have El Paso days in Austin, and I think this can kind of inform some of the work that we do to be sure that that's also optimized, and um we really make the best of that time and and inform both engagements, I'll passo in DC, Paso in Austin.

And um it's also just to note that we are going to update our federal legislative agenda again.

Um time flies, the next Congress is going to begin in um January of 2027.

So, with that, just uh we will continue to engage with our departments and bring that to you potentially, I think like August, no, sorry, September, October to city council.

So you can look forward to that.

Um otherwise, these are uh upcoming council items that you can take a look at here.

And this is just really an opportunity to reflect on the past year and look forward for what's to come for the federal program.

Um so that concludes the end of my presentation, and we're happy to take any questions.

Thank you, Ale, for that presentation.

Representative Fierro.

Thank you, Mayor Protam.

First and foremost, thank you very much for your leadership and for preparing us and preparing our legislative update well, well in advance.

I mean, I I think that the city, your team has really become the the leader in our community at preparing a delegation, both federal and state, um, on what our hopes are our expectations and what we need for our community.

So thank you very much for that.

I also um wanted to share Congresswoman Nescobar's team was here last week.

And I think she they visit with every with all of us, and they were very complimentary on you and the rest of the team when when we were in DC and the ability for you to share the priorities of our community and and then share some of the ones that were already been funded.

So again, thank you for your leadership, thank you for everything you've done for our community.

Thank you, Mayor Prokin.

Thank you.

Representative Rota.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

Ale, Omar, Cesar, you all did a phenomenal job.

And I know that that's just only three of you.

You know, it was a whole team that that produced this, and it was a production, and it took a lot of coordination.

And I just want to thank you for the great experience that I had at being able to be try to make a change or a difference.

Ms.

Mack, thank you for the the staff that went having Ms.

Guerra there, having uh Miss Rodriguez there, having that staff there was pivotal in being able to firsthand hear all the updates and changes and everything that are coming and what um what those points, those main points were like housing to come out of that conference.

What I will say, and something that I'm really proud to to bring back, was that it was a it was a monumental effort on the strategic and legislative affairs team to coordinate not only the the four of us that went, but all of the staff, in addition to that, and it was seamless.

So Ale, great job on doing that with with the rest of the team.

But one thing that I will say is that I went through several sessions from Sunday all the way through Tuesday and then Hill Day on Wednesday.

There's a lot that the City of El Paso does really well already.

And there's a lot, specifically we were talking about AI, and I happened to be in the meeting with with Ms.

Guerra and that session.

A lot of what some cities are still struggling to do, El Paso's already doing it.

And that is a huge testament to the leadership that's happening within the city.

And so I just it was such a proud moment for me.

That was just one of the instances of the many that I found on public safety was another one.

El Paso just does things already so well.

And that is a huge testament, Miss Mac, to you and all of your staff.

And I just wanted to say thank you and thank you to the Strategic and Legislative Affairs Department.

There's there's some constituents that will reach out and tell me, hey, uh Miss Rocha, please stay in your lane.

You know, stay local.

Uh we don't have to mix with state or federal.

And I want to make sure and make myself perfectly clear.

We have to interact with our state and legislative delegations and partners in order for things to make a difference here at home so that we can make sure that El Paso is getting the biggest amount of money and making the biggest impact with the money that we do get.

And make sure that we let everybody know that this border city is amazing and beautiful, and we're gonna fight for everything that we we go out for.

So thank you again, Ale and Strategic Legislative Affairs Department.

Omar says that I know you all are here representing, but to everybody that took part in the organization of getting us there and just the coordination.

We're very grateful, and it was a wonderful experience on my part.

Thank you.

Representative Trejo.

Thank you, Mayor Bertem.

Ale, is this a first for the city to have council and staff go to something like Days in DC?

Uh no, ma'am.

So there has been uh prior attendance for the National League of Cities Conference.

Um I will say this is the first year that we have formally adopted a federal legislative agenda.

Um so that does, I think it was intentional to bring additional impact through attendance in this conference, and we hope that next year you can kind of pick up the conversation such that it doesn't feel like a first time.

Very good.

Well, I think you all did did amazing.

Uh you know, the organization behind that.

I know you had a big part in that, but the the team as well, and and thank you all for for organizing this.

And you know, we had the opportunity to speak to legislators to meet with federal agencies, attend sessions, uh, met with other city leaders.

It was a really, really great experience.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what additional things we can bring for a city for our constituents uh funding.

You know, I had the opportunity to look uh look into some funding for for our community, and so I'm really looking forward to see what's gonna come from that.

Thank you again for putting this together.

Thank you.

You know, the the L uh NLC was a was a really great experience, and I'm really looking forward to to attending again.

Thank you.

And thank you, Ale from uh from myself as well.

I think it was a great experience to be in Washington DC and to participate in the NLC conference.

Um congratulations on 14 and a half million dollars brought to the city of El Paso through the community project funding.

Um you know, I I reiterate what Representative Rocha was saying.

You know, we showed up and we showed up big and we made ourselves present.

We have an agenda that that we're pushing forward, and we're making sure that El Paso is on the map.

And I think this is this is you know a new day for El Paso in the sense that NLC was one example of it, but it's also through other initiatives that we're doing as a city, for example, the Bloomberg that uh Miss Mack, Miss Neiman, and our Mayor Johnson are participating in all of these different initiatives are putting El Paso on the map and making sure that people see us and hear us, and uh we we're controlling the narrative for our beautiful city of El Paso.

So thank you so much, Ali, for all the work that you and your team did, Omar, and everyone else that was involved.

It was a it was a great experience, and I'm happy to see that the dollars show up for it.

Thank you.

Ms.

Prime.

Yes, that brings us to item number two.

And this is discussion and action on the motion from City Council on February 3rd, 2026, directing the city manager in collaboration with the city attorney to develop a plan of action to prevent the installation of any immigration customs enforcement ice detention facilities in the city and to research and look into the following.

Number one, create and present a protocol that prevents federal law enforcement officers from entering any city facility with the intention to search, detain or arrest a person without a signed judicial warrant.

Number two, explore a moratorium on permitting zoning and licensing for immigration and customs enforcement facilities.

And number three, produce a report that details all points of cooperation between the city of El Paso and immigration and customs enforcement.

Good good morning, representatives.

I just wanted to let you know this is a two-part presentation, as you recall, Miss Neiman and her team have done extensive work on this as well.

We want to start with the public presentation and then allow for the folks who've signed up to speak to be able to do so.

And before you take action on the recommendations, I want to ensure that we retire to executive session to allow for you to hear consultation, then we'll return for any actions related to this item.

Thank you.

Good morning, Mayor and Council.

City Pro Tem and Council.

Bring in a presentation today, and it was a follow-up from a February 3rd council action, and that action directed the city manager in collaboration with the city attorney to develop a plan of action to prevent the installation of immigration's customs enforcement.

Detention facilities in the city.

Additionally, to collaborate with the county of El Paso to support this measure.

It further directed the city manager and city attorney to research and look into the following and report back within 60 days.

Create a pre create and present a protocol that prevents federal law enforcement officers from entering any city facility with the intention to search, detain, or arrest a person without a signed judicial warrant.

To explore a moratorium on permitting zoning and licensing for immigration and customs enforcement facilities.

And to produce a report that details the points of cooperation between the city of El Paso and Immigrations and Customs Customs Enforcement.

These are some of the background executive orders that came out at this around the same time.

And so to create and present a protocol that prevents federal law enforcement officers from entering a city facility with the intention to search, detain, or arrest a person without assigned judicial warrant.

So state law or Senate Bill 4 from 2017, a local entity may not adopt, enforce or endorse a policy under which the entity prohibits or materially limits enforcement of immigration laws.

Federal ICE agents have power to arrest, detain, or detain in public places, areas generally accessible to the public.

Our recommendation is an employee protocol to immediately notify supervisor department heads in the city attorney's office.

With that, I'm gonna bring up Kevin Smith to speak on some of the good morning, Council Kevin Smith with Planning Inspections.

I'll be discussing the item regarding moratorium on the permitting zoning and licensing for these facilities.

It's important to note a little bit of background about state law and where state law comes from regarding zoning and land use and development requirements.

So zoning authority is given to home municipalities such as El Paso through state law.

And the state law governs what we can and can't do.

It gives a boundaries that we can act in regarding uh zoning matters for for the city to impose on on development.

In the local government code, um section 211, it does uh bring up there, and this is I I apologize, I'll I'll read this here, and this is directly from the state law.

It says this subchapter does not apply to a building, other structure, or land under the control administration or jurisdiction of a state or federal agency.

So, very simply what this is saying is that cities in Texas cannot regulate federal or state agencies for development requirements.

They supersede us and they typically do not even come to us for permits.

They just go and develop develop the land.

As we look at what we do have currently on the books for these type of facilities, they fall within the definition of correctional facility or detention center in our zoning code.

The definition is found there, and that is the closest definition we have there in the books for the zoning code.

Where these are allowed by right are the higher intensity commercial zoning districts and the manufacturing zoning districts.

What it means by right is that there are no other zoning requirements or special items that they have to go through.

There are two zoning districts, and I'll I'll explain this for a moment.

In the ranch and farm in the C2 zoning districts that require special permit.

And these come to you for different uses periodically throughout the year.

A special permit is an imposition on certain uses or circumstances that help to safeguard the community.

The use is disclosed throughout the process and and is noted and publicly it is disclosed at City Plan Commission and City Council.

When a property is rezoned, just simply rezoned, it's given the umbrella of all the uses that are allowed under that zoning district.

When a special permit, it is specific for that one use.

So it is a special permit for X use, and that is what is under consideration by City Plan Commission and eventually is approved or acted on by City Council.

And that'll play into some of the recommendation I'll be going over here in a moment for how we can look at uh updating our code.

The other zoning districts, uh, it is I'll just note it is in a master zoning plan in the industrial uh mixed use and in all other zoning districts, this use is not allowed.

And again, this is just for uh facilities that do not fall within under that federal or state agencies.

As we look at the moratorium requirements, um, there is a a moratorium allowance under section 212 of our local government code on certain commercial property development.

This is specifically to address a gap in development regulations.

There has to be findings that the existing rules are inadequate, and that um new rules may be updated to uh to help and uh safeguard the community.

And like most of the development codes, it they have to be based on a health safety and welfare of the community, just as the other requirements in our development code.

So just a background, and this is all per uh the section of uh our local government code.

It takes a hundred days before a moratorium can even take effect.

So if a moratorium say was to be published today, before it could even take effect, would be a hundred days from now.

At this during that time, our department would be still required to process those applications, move along the process.

Okay, once that moratorium is in effect, if it does get approved, they are short-lived.

State law only allows them to uh exist for 90 days.

There is an opportunity to have one extension, uh, but total of the moratorium cannot exist for more than 180 days.

After that concludes, there is a two-year waiting period before the city can try to do another moratorium on the same issue.

It is important to note that during this moratorium period, the city needs to be working on ways to address the item.

So it can't just be we we want to impose a moratorium and do nothing.

We have to make changes to address the that development requirement gap.

For for this requirement and simply for the length it takes to even impose a moratorium.

Staff is not recommending a moratorium to be placed on on this uh item here.

Um the recommendation that we have actually to address this is to uh for the council to direct staff to um draft revisions to the zoning ordinance for this use facility.

Okay, our recommendation is as I mentioned before, in a number of the zoning districts, they are allowed by right.

We would recommend changing that to a special permit.

That's where council can have the authority to decide whether it's appropriate or not to permit these.

Um would be would be notified of that specific use.

It's again, it's not that zoning district, it's that specific use that is being uh proposed at a given location, and then as well as the notification requirements that um happen uh for the city plan commission and city council in terms of the our uh our normal processing requirements.

The city also, in looking at some other Texas cities, what they have done as well, they have imposed other items such as distance from each other or from residential uh setbacks or size requirements.

But I I believe that one of the strongest powers that currently lacks in our code would be changing this to be a special permit because then city council has that uh ability to decide is it appropriate or not at a given location.

I will now pass the presentation over to Chief Basillas to talk about um his portion of the presentation.

Good morning, uh Mayor Pro Tem Council Peter Pacias, chief for uh police for the record.

So some points of uh cooperation.

We cooperate with uh multiple law enforcement agencies in the city of Al Paso, there are state, federal, and local.

Uh and uh we do have grants that come through the federal and state site.

A little history on uh the El Paso Police Department.

We've been uh in existence for uh over 152 uh years, and throughout the history of our department, we have had uh worked cooperatively with uh federal, state, and local agencies through throughout uh in various ways, uh helping us secure and being one of the safest cities.

In the 20th century, um technology started taking a grip in the uh late uh 60s, and one of the things that the FBI did is they started the National Crime Information Center, also known as NCI TCIC.

What this is is where uh we just had the telecommunicators here is the officers when they pull people over there, check in people, they go to what we call Channel 1, and they'll run uh people and vehicle on that uh NCIC TCIC.

TCIC is a Texas crime information center, and that's how officers would determine if somebody's wanted something stolen in the system nationally, uh police departments and sheriff's uh uh offices uh do this, and this all started in the late 60s.

By the turn of this century, um things uh had uh changed obviously because of the 9 and 11 attack, and what the FBI started including in the NCIC uh database was criminal histories, protective orders, sexual offenders data, and terrorism and immigration data.

Um current uh community surveys show that uh Al Pasoans feel uh safe in Al Paso, and that has a lot to do with various factors, but one of them is the uh the safety of the city uh that uh we police.

In February of uh 87, Chief John Scagno uh decentralized the department uh into a regional command, thus setting the groundwork for community uh policing uh in the city of El Paso.

This uh increased our president's uh presence in the community and our cooperation with the citizens of El Paso, thus helping us become a more effective uh police department uh out there, thus making us one of the safest, largest cities in the United States.

We have had procedures as long as I've been on the department when we're dealing with people that do not uh have uh a legal status in the United United States.

Uh one of the things is uh we may not, and in my uh 41 year history, we may not uh uh enforce immigration law, or nor do we ask uh about their citizen status.

The only way we make arrests out there to this day is we must have probable cause to arrest for a uh criminal offense.

When officers determine that an individual uh is an undocumented migrant, uh we turn them over to border patrol or CBP uh as a whole.

Uh how does that happen?

Is uh in general, if an officer comes across and somebody doesn't want to prosecute uh somebody that we have a state offense on, and we're able to determine that they're uh undocumented uh migrants.

We will contact uh CBP border patrol to come and uh uh take uh custody of this person.

If they don't show up in a reasonable amount of time, usually 45 minutes to an hour, we release that individual because we have no charges on them.

If somebody does come up to one of our officers and they request asylum, they'll be immediately referred over to uh CBP.

That that is a federal issue.

Under our procedures manual 305.3 uh arrests uh on there.

Um due to federal regulations in NCIC, there's the immigration violator uh administrative warrants.

If the person has local charges, the subject will be booked uh on the charges that we uh enforce.

The officer will notify ICE uh of the arrest and the detention facility where they're booked, which is going to be downtown uh facility.

Then the officer will document that in their report.

If there are no uh charges through dispatch, we'll notify the uh law enforcement support center.

If uh ICE does not respond, just like I had mentioned previously, uh the officer will release uh the individual, and then the officer will uh notate that in an email to uh PD hit notifications on arrest also through the NCIC threat screening center, commonly known as the terror uh watch uh system is updated in March of 2025 under Presidential Executive Order 14157, and that came into existence January 25th or 20th, 2025, and it designated cartels and for as a foreign terrorist organization.

With low no local charges, the officers will follow the instructions on the NCIC alert and contact the uh threat uh screening center uh of what they have.

The watch list has uh by itself is not grounds uh for arrest or detention.

The watch list uh teletype will have uh handling codes one through five, and basically what the uh one through five codes just inform the officers that uh the person might have ties to terrorism, a person of interest uh to uh a law enforcement agency, uh possible immigration violator or uh ties to a transnational uh uh crime organization.

Um with that, I'll be turning it over to Elda from the Comptroller's Office.

Good morning, Mayor Pertemp, Council, Hilda Rodriguez Hefner, Office of Comptroller Grants Administration.

So this next section of this presentation is going to address grant certifications and assurances.

So all federal grants come with uh certifications and assurances, which is really a legal commitment uh in order to receive funding.

Um we are seeing more and more uh clear, very specific language, um stricter enforcement across all agencies.

There's uh all these line this language that is now embedded into our applications and our agreements are also part of the revisions that are going on uh in the uniform guidance, which is the code of federal regulations that govern federal grant admin uh administration.

So some examples of um the language that it is included, it's really about concealment, harboring, shielding, uh, any fugitives from the federal law that have come persons that have come into the United States illegally and are still here illegally, impeding federal officers from exercising their authority, um, encouraging persons to come into the United States illegally and be in violation of the federal laws, transport or movement of illegal persons that are here within the United States, declining to cooperate with enforcement of federal immigration laws, shielding illegal persons from IC detention while they are in violation of federal law.

This one in particular, um this can bring civil and criminal liability, noncompliance with federal laws or failure to cooperate generally with the federal authorities will definitely jeopardize the continued receipt of uh federal financial assistance in the form of grants, not just from DOT, but from all federal agencies.

Currently we have about a hundred and twenty three active grants that total in awards over well over five hundred million dollars.

Um these we have covered payroll of almost 75 million dollars.

This is to say that the city depends heavily on federal and state funding to operate many of the community programs that the city offers.

Then on compliance of federal laws come with serious consequences, termination or suspension of current awards and withholding of funding that maybe we have already incurred the cost, uh, prepared a reimbursement request and they haven't paid us yet, they can withhold those funds, um, excluding the city from programs in the future, which may result in a period of 18 months to up to three years.

This is the suspension and debarment.

Uh just like we, the city check for suspension and debarment of our own vendors, so does the federal government.

And requiring us to repay a disallowed cost that is tied to false statements, which would be the signing of assurances and certifications that we are not following.

Some of the federal funded programs that would be significantly affected, and these are just some.

Um, but under public health, you're looking at WIC, family planning, emergency preparedness, immunization, HIV prevention, obesity.

Um the police, we received the COPS grant late last year.

Haida would be in jeopardy, uh crime victims grants, save neighborhoods.

FIRE also has the regional catastrophic preparedness emergency response grant, um, hazard mitigation, safer grant, community and human development.

Um you're looking at CDBG, ESG, HAPWA, home.

They are heavily funded by grants.

Under airport programs, um, everything coming from FAA, which is um the airport improvement, uh, repairs of taxiways, runways, uh roof, ceiling, etc.

And uh the economic adjustment assistance grant, which is currently funding the innovative innovative uh factory project.

There's um metro and there with Sun Metro, we're looking at all the formula grants.

The low in emission low and no emission uh grants that allow us to purchase natural gas uh fuel vehicles, um the bus and bus facility grant that allows us to replace buses, um repair or construct new bus shelters, and stay in uh compliance with ADA.

Bottom line, federal assurances are considered part of the grant agreement, uh including any immigration related terms and conditions that they may insert.

Uh noncompliance with federal laws may result in termination, suspension, debarment, and returning of funds.

And federal grants provide millions of dollars in funding for priority community programs that we just discussed.

And with that, I'll turn it over to Kevin or Chief.

Council, again, I want to just go over our recommendations as you heard the speakers all talk under creating a present and presenting a protocol that prevents so the employee protocol of immediately notifying a supervisor department head and the city attorney's office of law enforcement on the premises for the second item of exploring a moratorium.

Direct the city manager and city attorney to draft revisions to the zoning ordinance for the correctional facility use, and under the third item to produce the report on points of cooperation is to continue those points of cooperation, including grant certification requirements.

This concludes the public presentation.

Thank you, Mario.

Um do I have a motion to retire into executive?

We're not taking any action until we do that.

Is that correct, Ms.

Mack?

Okay.

We'll have to do public comment first.

We do have three members of the public that signed up to speak.

This morning, the first person is Ana Reza, followed by Eduardo Castillo and Juan Ortiz.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mayor Protemp and City Council members.

My name is Ana Reza, and I work for the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.

In February, I spoke to you along with many other community members about our call to say no to more detention centers, especially where there are warehouse structures, and to close really all immigration centers.

They are cruel and they are evil.

Today I am here with others to show our support to the continued support of your call to action to prevent the installation of any ICE detention.

A moratorium is a dirk rate to show that we know that these centers are dangerous and deadly.

They are torture that affect people's mental health for life.

It's also, I know that it takes a lot of work and it to stand up for this, as we just heard.

But it's not the only way that with other ways is a way to stop this evilness that is needed.

It will take many of their efforts to show that we we don't want this injustice in our city.

We as a city want to prevent further harm to our community members and neighbors throughout the U.S.

We need strict legal environmental requirements.

Let's change it to a special permit.

Let's protect people that have been criminalized, treated as cruel and and downright evil at the courts.

I've seen 10 to 15 mask agents confront people at their hearings and seen mother, a mother breastfeeding, being harassed this way and detained.

At our two current detention centers in our city, we visit people there and hear innocent people share their anguish as they are separated from their families, spouse, and children.

The freedom is robbed.

We need to stop this and prevent it.

As people of faith, we are praying for you and this process.

God says, liberate my people.

We must always remember our families, neighbors, and communities are not criminals.

And I would suggest to the police department to only give 10 minutes for the border patrol to show up.

They should recognize what it means for them to do a pickup.

It's death, separation of family and puts evil, puts them in an evil detention center.

Peace be with you.

The next speaker is Eduardo Castillo, followed by Juan Ortiz.

Good morning.

You have three minutes.

Good morning, Mayor.

Mayor Pro Tem, Council members.

But that I am here in my individual capacity, and that this matter does not pertain to any anything pending before the Ethics Review Commission, to my knowledge.

So I want to get that out.

Thank you.

And while I greatly appreciate the council's responsiveness to the concerns raised by our community, it must be made clear that the community rejects the expansion of inhumane federal detention policies.

A nation can secure its borders without sacrificing its soul.

Current federal federal immigration tactics, which disproportionately impact minority communities are designed to inflict pain and humiliation.

And while a special well, a total moratorium on detention facilities remains the strongest path forward.

However, for a special permit process to be effective and protective, it must be rigorous.

I propose that any zoning revision includes requirements that the applicant seeking to build a detention facility must meet the following mandates prior to approval.

One, environmental accountability.

Complete full assessments under both state and federal law, inclusive of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Two, humanitarian standards.

Provide an exhaustive details on medical care, mental health resources, and legal services for detainees.

Three, safety and welfare.

Formally demonstrate that the facility will not jeopardize the health, safety, or welfare of El Paso residents.

Four, public transparency.

Conduct mandatory public hearings to address community concerns before any permit is granted.

And finally, legal compliance.

Thank you.

And the final speaker is Juan Ortiz.

Mr.

Ortiz, star six, please to unmute your telephone.

Juan Ortiz, star six, please to unmute your telephone.

You're still on mute.

Star 6, please.

Mr.

Ortiz.

Star 6 will unmute your telephone.

You're still muted.

I believe you might be having technical difficulties.

That concludes public comment.

Thank you, Ms.

Prime Council.

Do I have a motion to retire to executive?

So move.

I have a quick question first.

Okay.

Sorry.

Representative Canales.

Um, if the speaker is able to connect by the time we come back out, can we take public comment at that time?

Absolutely.

Okay, just wanted to make sure they're aware that they have some time.

Sure.

Thank you.

I agree.

Uh motion.

Second.

There's a motion and a second to retire to executive session.

All in favor?

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

And the city council and the city of Al Paso may retire into executive session pursuing to Section 3.5A of the El Paso City Charter in the Texas Government Code Chapter 551 subchapter D to discuss item number two, discussion and action on motion from City Council on February 3rd, 2026, directing the city manager in collaboration with the city attorney to develop a plan of action to prevent the installation of any immigration customs enforcement detention facilities in the city.

Do we have a motion?

Oh, yeah, sorry.

Motion to reach the two commodive executive session.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

There's a motion and a second.

All in favor?

All right.

Anyone opposed?

And the work session is back in open session at eleven twenty six AM, and we're on item number two.

If we could pull up the slide, please.

Ortiz star please star six please to unmute your telephone Juan Ortiz star six please Mr.

Ortiz you're still on mute you need to press star six to unmute your telephone your microphone is still muted Mr.

Juan Ortiz star six if you would like to speak I still don't see the microphone live yet so thank you Ms.

Prime Council we have a motion and a second do we have any further discussion on item number two okay no discussion so call for the vote Ms.

Prime Yes ma'am so the motion was made and read into the record by Representative Canales seconded by Representative Limone and this is on item number two on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and that motion passes unanimously thank you Ms.

Prime Do we have a motion to retire into executive second there's a motion and a second to retire to executive session all in favor?

Anyone opposed?

And the city council of the city of El Paso may retire to executive session personality to section 3.5A of the El Paso City Charter and the Texas Government Code Chapter 551 Sub Chapter D to discuss executive session item one real estate division update HQ number 25-5035 under 551.072 executive session item two application of El Paso Electric Company for approval of a system resiliency plan PUC number five nine one three seven HQ number utility dash seventy seven under five five one point zero seven one executive session item three legal consultation on chapter three eighty economic development agreement with worldwide LLC HQ number four seven eight under five five one point zero seven one and executive session item four Daniel Villegas versus City of El Paso et al Cause number three one five dash C Vir eight six under five five one point zero seven one these matters are taken into executive session under 551.071 consultation with attorney and 551.072 deliberation regarding real property it is eleven thirty one a.m.

Council do we have a motion to reconvene?

There's a motion and a second to come out of executive session.

All in favor?

Anyone opposed the work session is back in open session at 307 PM.

We're on EX1 alternate mayor pro tem Fedro.

Thank you.

EX two motion may second engage in the settlement discussions and the application of the El Paso Electric Company for approval of a system resilience plan under the Texas Public Utility Commission docket number five nine one three seven in the matter uh number high queue utility seven seven and to take all steps necessary including the execution of any required documents in order to execute this the authority oh thank you there's a motion made and read into the record by alternate mayor pro tempiero seconded by representative chavez and this is on EX two on that motion representative Acevedo sorry I'm just saying my usual 1750 from Opus Electric Employee PAC Representative Nino Thank you Mayor Pro Tem I also have received a contribution from the Opaso Electric Employee PAC okay Ms.

I also have received a contribution from the O Paso Electric Employee PAC.

Okay, Ms.

Prank call for the vote.

Yes.

Voting session is open.

And the voting session.

And the motion passes 721.

Representative Limon voting nay.

The remainder of council voting aye.

EX3.

Motion made second and carrier than the city manager attorney and authorized to hire consultants in the matter of Daniel Venegas.

This is versus EX4.

We're at EX3, sir.

Oh, I'm sorry, um, no action.

Thank you.

EX4.

Motion made, second, and the carried that the city manager and consultant consultation with the city attorney be authorized to hire consultants in the matter of Daniel Viegas versus City of El Paso and police officers, cause number 315-CV-00386, and take all steps necessary, including the execution of any required documents in order to execute the authority.

Second.

I was gonna second then right into the record by alternate mayor pro tenfiero, seconded by representative Malonado Rocha on EX4 to hire consultants on that motion.

Call for the vote.

Thank you, Representative Fedel.

And the voting session, and that motion passes unanimously.

Okay, is there a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Second.

There's a motion and a second to adjourn the work session.

All in favor?

Anyone opposed?

And the work session for Monday, April 13th, 2026, is adjourned at 310 p.m.

Thank you, Council.

Thank you so much, Ms.

Prine.

Everyone have a good afternoon.