ICE now confirms that Texas lawmaker did call about protesters Monday Lawmaker says he saw Rinaldi's phone log as well

Protesters gather in the Texas Capitol on Monday, May 29, 2017 to protest the "sanctuary cities" law. Protesters gather in the Texas Capitol on Monday, May 29, 2017 to protest the "sanctuary cities" law. Photo: Andrea Zelinski / Houston Chronicle Photo: Andrea Zelinski / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close ICE now confirms that Texas lawmaker did call about protesters Monday 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Wednesday that it received a phone call about protesters who disrupted the final day of the Texas legislative session to oppose a new state law that allows law enforcement to ask people for their immigration status if detained.

The federal agency said a "more careful" review of records found there was a call placed at 12:05 p.m. on Monday to the national ICE Tip Line. "This call was logged and a formal report was forwarded to the ICE Homeland Security Investigations office in San Antonio," the statement said.

The confirmation was a reversal from ICE's statement Tuesday, which stated: "ICE is not aware of receiving any calls related to this matter."

That initial statement had raised questions from some about whether state Rep. Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, had called ICE on Monday. After telling Hispanic House Democrats he had done so, a brief scuffle broke out on the House floor and Rinaldi and state Rep. Alfonso "Poncho" Nevarez, D-Eagle Pass, exchanged threats of violence.

In a statement released on Facebook Monday, Rinaldi said he "called ICE on several illegal immigrants who held signs in the gallery which said "I am illegal and here to stay."

State Rep. Ramon Romero, D-Fort Worth, accused Rinaldi of racial profiling. Nevarez said Rinaldi had no evidence that there were illegal immigrants in the House gallery.

'It did happen'

State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, on Tuesday night tweeted a photo that Rinaldi took of his cellphone log that showed two calls to the ICE tip line at 10:55 a.m. and 10:56 a.m. on Monday. Stickland said he couldn't explain the apparent discrepancy in the times compared to ICE's statement that it received a call at 12:05 p.m.

"I know for certain that those are Rinaldi's call logs and it did happen," said Stickland, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, of which Rinaldi also is a member. "He had received so many calls that it had gone off of his recent calls on his phone, and so he logged online to get the log."

An ICE official said the "contents of the calls received by the tip line are confidential."

The agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, didn't respond to a question about whether any action was taken in response to the phone call about the protesters.

Stickland said he spoke Wednesday with Rinaldi, who said Monday he was under protection from the state Department of Public Safety. Rinaldi has not responded to requests for comments since his Monday statement.

"He's obviously shaken up by the whole thing. The number one priority is safety and his pregnant wife," Stickland said.

Another contested issue is whether the protesters had signs that read, "I am illegal and here to stay," as Rinaldi has stated. Some Democratic lawmakers have said those signs were not in the gallery, which DPS cleared after protesters began to chant and wave banners with the messages: "See you in court" and "See you at the polls."

Stickland said he saw signs in the gallery that said: "I am illegal, here to stay" without an "and" in the middle.

He said one of the reasons why the confrontation between Rinaldi and Democratic Hispanic House members got so intense was that most of the sergeants-at-arms were on the Capitol's third floor, helping to clear out protesters from the House gallery. That's why the House parliamentarian, Chris Griesel, was trying to separate members - a far cry from his normal duty of ruling on points of order.

Calls for healing

With Gov. Greg Abbott possibly calling a special session soon, Stickland said he hopes there are a lot of "personal conversations" between those involved in Monday's scuffle before the House returns.

"The body and the members have a lot of healing to do. People say stuff in the heat of the moment and out of anger. I joked that 'when Stickland is the voice of reason trying to slow stuff down, you know we're in big trouble,' " Stickland said with a laugh. He's known as a firebrand and a foe of House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio.