6 OctOber 2 - 8, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents classroom libraries keep them there until certain books are challenged? No one knows. But what they do know is that every- one is afraid of getting in trouble.” ▼ IMMIGRATION ‘DETAILS AREN’T ADDING UP’ IMMIGRANT ADVOCATES REELING IN ICE SHOOTING’S WAKE. BY EMMA RUBY I n the days after a gunman opened fire on the Dallas Immigration and Customs En- forcement field office on North Stemmons Freeway, answers came at a trickle. The “targeted attack” is being investi- gated by the FBI. While some details have begun to emerge about the suspected shooter, 29-year-old North Texas resident Joshua Jahn, little information has been released about the individuals injured in the attack. Jahn reportedly fired into an unmarked van that was bringing ICE detainees to the processing facility, and three detainees were wounded by gunfire. One has died of those injuries. According to reports, one detainess was from Mexico, another from Venezuela and anotner from El Salvador. For advocacy groups that have doubled down on calls for immigrant rights during President Donald Trump’s second term, Wednesday’s attack was a shock. However, the political jockeying that has followed the shooting is less shocking. “We’re still trying to gather details just because a lot of the details aren’t making sense and aren’t adding up for us,” said Esperanza Tomeo, an organizer with Latino civil rights group the Brown Berets. “Ted Cruz made the statement about wanting the end to political violence, but he made no mention of what causes that political violence, the division that’s been caused by [Gov. Greg] Abbott and by himself with the propaganda and rhetoric against the people. There’s been no mention from them about the victims, or any remorse, empathy, or sympathy at all. It’s just been purely focused on building their narrative.” As soon as news of the shooting began to emerge, the Brown Berets had to take a headcount to ensure no members were at the scene at the time the attack occurred. The group has regularly protested outside the facility in recent months or attended meetings with community members who may be intimidated by ICE. Once accounted for, the organization began the process of trying to identify the victims of the shooting when it became clear to them that the government was in no rush to give out names. She said the group hopes to contact families who may be in other countries to offer Dallas-based resources and assistance. Another dozen organizations — ranging from the Dallas Asian American Historical Society to the North Texas Christians Against Christian Nationalism to Vecinos Unidos, the group that has served as a community watchdog at the Dallas federal immigration court as ICE has begun ramping up courtroom arrests — have signed a letter condemning the violence of the attack while also urging officials to scale down “the increasingly hostile anti-immigrant rhetoric” that “contributes to the violence we saw (Wednesday).” Like the Brown Berets, the signees are calling for more information about the victims of the shooting while also urging the Department of Homeland Security to improve conditions at the North Stemmons facility. In July, North Texas Congressional leaders called on immigration authorities to address reports that conditions within the facility are “unacceptable” to the point that they could be in “serious violation of detainees’ basic human rights.” Local ICE officials have rejected those claims. “The dehumanization that allows people to be locked in ICE detention centers is the same dehumanization that allowed for today’s violence to occur,” the letter states. “The conditions for immigrants in Dallas are unsafe, unlawful, and now, deadly.” For Tomeo, as more information about the shooting is revealed in the coming days, she will be “taking it with a grain of salt.” She is openly skeptical of information from leaders like FBI Director Kash Patel or Gov. Greg Abbott, who she believes has a clear anti-immigrant agenda. “This assassination will NOT slow our arrest, detention and deportation of illegal immigrants,” wrote Abbott on social media three hours after the shooting. Last week Patel posted a photo to X of what appears to be bullets, at least one of which has the words “Anti-ICE” written on it. While officials have suggested the bullet inscriptions show a clear motive in the attack, Tomeo wants people to remember it was immigrants who were ultimately harmed. She worries that the attack will compound the fears of Dallas’ immigrant community, many of whom are already too scared to show up for a court hearing or ICE check-in out of fear of being detained. “The last thing that we want our people to be is to be scared,” Tomeo said. “We have to believe that this is going to only perpetuate their fear more. So we’re doing everything we can to help comfort them and give them reassurance that we are still here to be there for them as their vanguard.” ▼ EDUCATION ANTI-INCLUSION CRUSADE NEW LAW REQUIRES TEXAS TEACHERS TO OUT SSTUDENTS TO PARENTS. BY ALYSSA FIELDS A t school, students can find out who they want to be. For many, school is the first taste of freedom and a space for discovery. At school, students might find a teacher they can talk to about their first same-sex crush. Maybe their school has a Gay and Sexualities Alliance Club, and after the final bell, they’ll linger with all their closest friends to talk about queer adolescence. These scenarios, perhaps not terribly common, were at least possible in the past. But now, none of that is possible. A new state law could very well turn public schools into another unsafe place for many LGBTQ community members, and teachers will have to walk a new line. The new law, which went into effect on the first of the month, places sweeping bans on all DEI programming, including, but not limited to, extracurriculars that discuss race, gender and sexual orientation. The law also prevents teachers from assisting in what the state has classified as “social transitioning,” meaning teachers can not allow students to use pronouns or names that differ from what the student was assigned at birth. The GSA Network filed a lawsuit in August challenging the bill, which contains more stipulations and intricacies than can fit in a 1,000-word summary. The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Transgender Law Center and several other LGBTQ advocacy organizations joined the suit against Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath and three school districts, including Plano Independent School District. The lawsuit alleges that the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. “Because [the Social Transition Ban] section is unconstitutionally vague, what is actually prohibited is ambiguous, but the law does not explicitly say that school employees may not refer to students by their chosen name or pronouns,” reads a letter the ACLU of Texas sent to all Texas school districts, discouraging compliance with the new law. “Referring to someone in the way that they want to be addressed is a matter of basic human decency and respect—and arguably not a form of “assist[ance].” The letter also claims that the law violates students’ rights to privacy. “If school administrators use students’ deadnames or misgender them in front of other students or parents, this can also severely violate federal privacy laws by ‘outing’ the student as transgender and causing or exacerbating bullying and harassment,” reads the letter. “Students have the right to share or withhold information about their gender identity under federal law.” Last week, the Texas American Federation of Teachers (Texas AFT) joined the lawsuit, highlighting the bill’s impacts on student safety and teachers who belong to the community they are now banned from supporting. “When educators step in the classroom, we make a promise to support our students and their families,” said Texas AFT President Zeph Capo in a press release. “SB 12 asks us to set aside both that promise and the state’s own educator code of ethics to be foot soldiers for Texas’s anti-inclusion crusade.” New Law Threatens Teachers T exas Republicans have progressively villainized educators and politicized inclusive education efforts, even at higher education institutions. The most glaring example is the recent resignation of celebrated Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh, who voluntarily stepped down after a viral video of a gender identity lesson launched a social media campaign against the university. The state, through many attempts and controversial legislative moves, has made teaching a less attractive career path, said Johnathan Gooch, a spokesperson for Equality Texas. The waning of DEI policies in Texas has already spurred an exodus from the state at the higher education level, and Gooch says it’s likely to trickle down to the lower levels. “Teachers are truly the backbone of our society,” said Gooch. “They are so selfless, and they commit themselves, their time, Stewart F. House/Getty Images Dallas Police work the scene where a shooter opened fire on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, Sept. 24, 2025. >> p8 Unfair Park from p4
