Updated at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday: Revised throughout to include comments from the constable and county commissioners.

A Dallas County constable on Tuesday defended the arrest of an unauthorized immigrant last month — an arrest that has raised questions about whether the constable and his deputies are quietly working with immigration officials.

Constable Ray Nichols of Precinct 2, an elected official, told county commissioners that he has no agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even though county officials say two of his officers have made repeated trips to the agency since February.

In a sometimes testy exchange with commissioners, Nichols said his office was enforcing the law when one of his deputies stopped a woman on July 20 in Oak Cliff — beyond the Garland and Mesquite area to which he is assigned. The deputy was in an unmarked white car and wearing a vest that said “POLICE,” along with a Precinct 2 badge.

Trinidad Camacho, 54, was arrested by a Dallas County constable deputy on July 20 in Dallas. (Courtesy of Camacho family)

Nichols has said that Trinidad Camacho was stopped because of a traffic violation and that his deputy then discovered she had a federal felony warrant.

“There’s no operation with ICE,” Nichols, a Republican, told commissioners. “Outside of that, I really can’t go into it. This is law enforcement information.”

Commissioner Elba Garcia, a Democrat, pushed back, noting that two of Nichols’ deputies had made nine total trips to an ICE location since February.

“The facts that we are just reviewing today don’t make any sense,” Garcia told Nichols.

He replied: “I hope you’re not trying to spin this into some kind of sanctuary-city policy. I can’t help the fact that these people have warrants and that it just happens to be that ICE has a warrant.”

Nichols told her to go out with officers “to see how this all works.”

Camacho, 54, was deported to Mexico in 1999 after convictions for drunken driving and drug possession. She returned to the U.S. without authorization. But her attorney has said there was no federal warrant against her at the time she was stopped, and her family alleged that one of Camacho's relatives — a U.S. citizen — was pulled over by the same deputy earlier in the

and that he was let go after showing proof of citizenship.

“I have no personal knowledge of that,” Nichols said after County Judge Clay Jenkins questioned him about the allegation that his deputy had also stopped one of Camacho’s relatives.

When Jenkins pressed for an answer, Nichols said: “If you want any or more information, you need to talk to ICE.”

Last month, Nichols and ICE declined to answer questions from The Dallas Morning News about whether there is a partnership or agreement between the agencies. In response to questions about Camacho's arrest, ICE initially said she had been detained by members of its Fugitive Operations Team.

Martha Gomez Camacho, the deported woman’s daughter, said the same officer who arrested Camacho also pulled over her husband about an hour earlier. She said the officer asked her husband about his immigration status and let him go even though he didn’t have a driver’s license or proof of insurance.

Garcia confronted Nichols about a video that she says shows his officer parked outside Camacho’s house for more than an hour. Camacho’s family also shared surveillance video that appears to show Gomez Camacho’s husband pulling out of the driveway at Camacho’s home and an unmarked white car following about 20 seconds later.

Garcia told the constable that it didn’t look like his deputy had casually gone out of his precinct.

“I don’t have any information about that, that he was there for an hour,” Nichols said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Interrogation by commissioners

Constables are peace officers who are elected into office. Their main tasks are to serve court papers and guard justice of the peace courtrooms.

The only control commissioners have over constables relates to funding. Several years ago, Dallas County commissioners downsized constable offices after questions arose about poor training and abuse of authority.

The county budget is approved in September. Commissioner John Wiley Price said all constable offices are treated the same based on workload, not politics. Nichols is one of two Republican constables in Dallas County, where local government is dominated by Democrats.

Price questioned Nichols about why Camacho was booked at the Euless city jail in Tarrant County instead of the Dallas County Jail, which has a contract with ICE to hold people with immigration detainers.

“It was not our choice, OK?” Nichols said. “You can take it up with the federal government. It was not our choice.”

At times, Nichols seemed frustrated with commissioners’ questions. He said arresting people who have warrants is a matter of public safety.

“Why are we trying to second-guess this, would be the main question,” he told them. “Are we trying to find an exception for certain people under the law?”

The constable left the meeting before four members of the public, including Camacho’s daughter, addressed commissioners with their concerns about the arrest.

“There’s proof he was outside my house. ... I hope you guys can help me get answers for that,” Gomez Camacho told commissioners.

Memo about constable

Before Tuesday’s meeting, Nichols told County Administrator Darryl Martin that the constable's office never asks for a person's citizenship status during a traffic stop, only a valid driver's license. Camacho had no license on her, according to the constable and to her family.

Nichols also noted that neither he nor his officers have been deputized as federal officers under the 287(g) program, an initiative that was started to let local law enforcement agencies partner with ICE to detain people believed to be in the country illegally.

In a memo to commissioners, Martin documented the trips two of Nichols’ officers made to ICE.

"Email data indicates some of the visits may be related to training at the ICE office, but there are also indications the visits may be related to some sensitive data retrieved in emails for which Constable Nichols has sought a law enforcement exception from the Texas Attorney General," Martin wrote.

He was referencing a public information request from The News seeking emails between Nichols, one of his officers and ICE. Nichols is withholding the information pending an opinion from the state attorney general. He cites an ongoing investigation.

After she was arrested in July, Camacho was again deported to Mexico, but attorney Cynthia Barbare said federal authorities did not file criminal charges against her.

After Martin asked Nichols what his officer was doing outside of his precinct, Nichols said the officer was investigating and serving warrants. He also pointed to state law, which says a constable may serve papers and enforce the law throughout the county.

"Precinct 2 is not in the business of patrols or making traffic stops as a pattern or practice," the constable told Martin.

Nichols' office in Precinct 2 conducted 147 traffic stops last year, though none resulted in arrests, according to its latest racial profiling report filed with the state.

The Dallas County constable's office with the most traffic stops last year was Precinct 5, led by Beth Villarreal. It reported 411 stops and no arrests.

Precinct 1 had three stops, and Precinct 4 had two, according to their reports. Precinct 3 said it was exempt from reporting because it was not its policy for officers to make traffic stops while performing their official duties.