El Paso City Council Work Session - April 13, 2026

The El Paso City Council held a work session on Monday, April 13, 2026, at 9:04 AM, presided by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez. The session included a proclamation, a presentation on the city's federal legislative agenda, and a discussion on preventing ICE detention facilities in the city, followed by executive session items. The meeting adjourned at 3:10 PM.

Proclamation

• The council issued a proclamation declaring April 12–18, 2026, as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, honoring the over 150 telecommunicators at the 9-1-1 center who answer approximately 240 million 911 calls nationwide each year. Chief Killings noted the team includes call takers, fire dispatchers, and police dispatchers working 24/7.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Ana Reza (Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande) expressed strong opposition to immigration detention facilities, calling them “cruel and evil.” She urged the council to adopt a moratorium and supported changing zoning to a special permit process. She also suggested reducing the time police wait for Border Patrol to respond from 45 minutes to 10 minutes.
• Eduardo Castillo (speaking in individual capacity) stated the community rejects the expansion of federal detention policies. He proposed that any special permit process include rigorous requirements: environmental accountability under NEPA, humanitarian standards (medical care, mental health, legal services), demonstration that the facility will not jeopardize health/safety/welfare, and mandatory public hearings.
• Juan Ortiz was unable to unmute his telephone during public comment; council agreed to allow him to speak after executive session but he did not connect.

Discussion Items

• Federal Legislative Agenda Update – Strategic and Legislative Affairs presented the city's first-ever federal legislative agenda (adopted March 3, 2025). Highlights:
  • Attendance at the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference (March 16–18, 2026) with 2,000+ leaders.
  • City submitted the highest number of community project funding applications in history, resulting in $14.5 million in selections for FY27 (Congresswoman Escobar and Congressman Gonzalez).
  • FY26 appropriations awarded $7 million to city projects.
  • A request for a city lobbyist will come to council on April 28, 2026.
  • Upcoming update of the federal legislative agenda planned for September/October 2026.
  • Council members praised the department's coordination and noted El Paso is ahead of other cities in areas like AI and public safety.
• ICE Detention Facilities Plan of Action – City staff presented a follow-up to the February 3, 2026 council motion. Three components:
  1. Employee Protocol – To prevent federal officers from entering city facilities without a judicial warrant, staff recommended an internal protocol requiring immediate notification of supervisor, department head, and city attorney. (State law (SB 4) prohibits local entities from materially limiting immigration enforcement; ICE agents have authority to arrest in public places.)
  2. Moratorium on Permitting/Zoning – Staff did not recommend a moratorium because state law requires a 100-day waiting period before taking effect, only allows 90 days (plus one 90-day extension), and requires active code revisions during that time. Instead, they recommended drafting zoning ordinance revisions to change the use classification of “correctional facility/detention center” from “by-right” in higher-intensity commercial and manufacturing districts to requiring a special permit — which would give City Council authority to approve or deny each proposal on a case-by-case basis. Other Texas cities have added distance or size requirements, but staff view the special permit as the strongest tool.
  3. Points of Cooperation – Police Chief Pacillas and Comptroller staff detailed cooperation with federal agencies, including:
     • NCIC/TCIC database checks for criminal histories, immigration data, and terror watch lists.
     • Officers do not enforce immigration law but turn over undocumented migrants to Border Patrol/ICE if no local charges; if ICE does not respond within 45 minutes to an hour, the person is released.
     • Presidential Executive Order 14157 (Jan 2025) designates cartels as foreign terrorist organizations; watch list alerts are not standalone grounds for arrest.
  • Grant Compliance – The city has 123 active federal grants totaling over $500 million (covering payroll of $75 million). New federal certifications include prohibitions on shielding illegal persons from ICE detention. Noncompliance risks termination, suspension (18 months to 3 years debarment), and repayment of funds. Affected programs include WIC, police COPS grants, CDBG, airport projects, Sun Metro transit grants, and more.

Key Outcomes

• Item 1 (Federal Legislative Agenda) – No action required; presentation accepted as information.
• Item 2 (ICE Detention Facilities) – Council voted unanimously (8-0) to adopt the motion made by Representative Canales and seconded by Representative Limon, which directed the city manager and city attorney to implement the staff recommendations: (1) adopt the employee notification protocol, (2) draft zoning ordinance revisions to require a special permit for correctional/detention facilities, and (3) continue existing points of cooperation, including grant certification requirements. The vote occurred after executive session (11:26 AM – 3:07 PM).
• Executive Session Items (after reconvening at 3:07 PM):
  • EX2 (El Paso Electric System Resiliency Plan) – Council voted 7-1 (Representative Limon voting no) to authorize settlement discussions and execution of documents related to PUC docket 59137.
  • EX4 (Daniel Villegas vs. City of El Paso) – Council voted unanimously to authorize the city manager and attorney to hire consultants in the litigation.
  • EX1 (Real Estate Update) and EX3 – No action taken.
• The work session adjourned at 3:10 PM.