Kyle McClenagan/Houston Public Media
Driven by Democratic gains in the midterm elections, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said Friday he was ordering the Houston Police Department to reduce contact with federal immigration agents.
Whitmire issued an executive order directing HPD officers to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) only when a person with a civil immigration warrant is charged with an offense punishable by imprisonment. This marks a stark change from the city police department’s previous policy on interacting with ICE, which has come under increased scrutiny over the past year.
“I’m doing this to begin a healing process, to reduce fear and anxiety within our community,” Whitmire said during a news conference Friday. “I also do it knowing that elections matter. »
Under the executive order, officers will no longer be allowed to detain people solely because of civil immigration warrants. Agents will be prohibited from contacting ICE regarding these warrants unless the person is charged with a jailable offense.
“For example, if our officers stop someone for a minor traffic violation and they write a citation, that person gets a citation and goes about their business,” Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz said. “HPD will no longer contact ICE if they have an administrative warrant and are not arrested.”
HPD’s interactions with ICE have posed a political conundrum for Whitmire over the past year.
In April, he joined a group of Houston City Council members in an effort to reduce the department’s coordination with federal immigration agents — giving agents discretion whether or not to contact ICE about civil immigration warrants and prohibiting them from detaining people under those warrants.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott intervened, threatening to cut more than $110 million in public safety funding. Whitmire and the City Council capitulated, rescinding the measure and requiring that agents detain immigrants for a “reasonable” amount of time while waiting for ICE agents to respond to warrants.
Before the City Council meeting in which officials walked back the ordinance, Whitmire’s staff distributed a memo to City Council members detailing more than $260 million in direct appropriations to Houston from the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature in 2025. Whitmire said a battle with the state would cost the city funding in the future.
Houston City Council member Alejandra Salinas, who spearheaded the ordinance in April and opposed its reversal, said: Houston Public Media on The policy change on Friday was a “big step forward.”
“Today we recognized the fear we had caused and I am very grateful to be able to put those days behind us,” she said. “I commend the Mayor and Chief Diaz for finally listening to the community’s calls and taking this decisive action.”
The original order required HPD to provide regular reporting on these interactions, and that measure has survived. According to the department’s first two reports, agents contacted ICE nearly 200 times between April and September, including at least 36 cases in which HPD agents turned people over directly to ICE.
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According to records obtained by Houston Public Media, Some of these incidents occurred after people called emergency services for help, including in cases of attempted suicide and domestic violence.
Abbott nor the Texas attorney general’s office immediately responded to a request for comment regarding Whitmire’s announcement.
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