Houston Mayor Bars Police From Calling ICE Over Minor Offenses

Houston Mayor John Whitmire signed an executive order Friday that bars city police from contacting Immigration and Customs Enforcement over nonviolent encounters such as traffic stops, the Guardian and Fox News reported. The move by the nation's fourth-largest city comes days after Democrats won the Texas governor's race and a U.S. Senate seat.

Under the order, officers may alert ICE only when someone is arrested on a charge that carries possible jail time or when ICE presents an administrative warrant. The Department of Homeland Security criticized the change, while immigrant-rights advocates welcomed it.

What the order says

According to the Guardian, the two-page directive states that a person's actual or suspected immigration status cannot, by itself, justify contacting ICE, prolonging a detention or taking someone into custody. An administrative warrant, the Guardian explained, is signed by a senior ICE official and indicates that immigration authorities want the person.

Whitmire described the approach as “a new model” of enforcement. He said the city would focus on immigrants who pose a danger rather than those going about family, work and school life. In remarks carried by the Guardian and the AP, he said a traffic stop would end with a citation or a warning and “no contact” with ICE over non-jailable offenses.

Whitmire told The New York Times, as reported by Fox News, that officers would still notify ICE if someone is charged with a new crime as that person is brought to jail.

The mayor's case and that of advocates

Whitmire said the change reduces fear and anxiety in the community. Fox News reported that he signaled to the Times that Gov. Greg Abbott's order requiring contact with DHS had caused anxiety among Houstonians. In a written statement, Whitmire called the order a step toward a stronger Houston and thanked Police Chief Noe Diaz and other officials. He also called the decision “responsible” and more effective policy, according to Fox News, while acknowledging that Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa does not take office until January.

Cesar Espinosa, executive director of the Houston immigrant-rights group Fiel, said the city council had decided months ago to limit cooperation and that it was time to follow through. The Guardian reported that Fiel, which has worked with the family of a man injured in an October incident involving an ICE officer, planned a press conference Friday afternoon.

The federal government's response

A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital the department was disappointed that “sanctuary politicians” seek to limit cooperation, arguing that federal officers are fulfilling their duty to protect communities. The spokesperson said local partnerships are critical to arresting people in the country illegally and claimed that seven of the top 10 safest U.S. cities cooperate with ICE.

The spokesperson also said that when local officials bar police from working with DHS, federal officers have a more visible presence as they look for people released from jails. The department pointed to recent ICE arrests in Houston of three foreign nationals with convictions for homicide or a sex offense involving a child. ICE spokespersons did not immediately respond to the Guardian's request for comment.

How Houston got here

Fox News, citing Houston's Fox affiliate, reported that Whitmire and Diaz set a policy in March under which a sergeant would oversee ICE involvement if a background check revealed an immigration-related warrant. If ICE could not reach the stop within half an hour, the person would be released.

The city council approved an ordinance in April limiting how long officers could hold people while waiting for ICE. Whitmire later backed revisions after Abbott threatened to withhold more than $100 million in state funding and then-Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation into the city's immigration policies. Fox News said the revised policy gave officers more discretion to contact ICE and wait for agents in cases involving civil immigration warrants. The new order, it said, returns to the limits city lawmakers first sought.

The Guardian noted that ICE, despite a one-time $75 billion infusion from Congress, still relies heavily on local police. It said the agency has signed about 2,600 agreements, many in Texas, that deputize local and state agencies to enforce immigration law.

What this means for Houston residents

For people stopped by Houston police for traffic violations or other minor, non-jailable offenses, the order says officers should issue a citation or a warning and send them on their way without notifying ICE. Police would contact the agency only after an arrest on a jailable charge or if ICE has an administrative warrant.

The order does not stop ICE from operating in the city on its own. Whitmire's order governs only what Houston police do. The Guardian noted that residents have been unsettled by recent ICE actions, including a July traffic-stop shooting that killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and an October case in which a grand jury indicted ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales on an aggravated assault charge. ICE has said the injured man ran in front of the vehicle, while prosecutors say video contradicts that account.

What's at stake

Hinojosa takes office in January, replacing Abbott, who lost his bid for a fourth term. Fox News reported that Abbott's earlier threat to withhold state funding was a central pressure on the city's previous revisions. The sources do not say whether the state will respond to the new order.

Read next
Texas Grand Jury Indicts ICE Officer Over Houston Collision With Man on Foot
Melania Trump Hosts Russian, Ukrainian Envoys After 800 Evacuated From Oleshky
Judge Pauses Trump's 250-Foot Arch Hours After Planning Panel Approves It

Around Prague, based on reporting by The Guardian, Fox News