Houston Mayor Orders Police to Stop Alerting ICE in Routine Stops After Democratic Wins in Texas
Mayor John Whitmire signed an executive order Friday directing Houston police to contact federal immigration officers only when a person is arrested on a jailable offense, a reversal that follows Democrats' sweep of Texas statewide offices.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire signed an executive order on Friday directing city police to stop alerting federal immigration officers during routine stops, a sharp turn that follows Democrats’ sweep of Texas statewide offices in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Under the new policy, Houston police officers may contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement only when a person is arrested and charged with a jailable offense. Officers may not alert ICE on the basis of a civil immigration warrant alone, and suspected immigration enforcement by itself is no longer a basis to contact ICE or hold a person in custody.
“I have signed an executive order directing HPD to no longer contact ICE for nonviolent offenses, helping reduce fear in our communities,” Whitmire said in a statement on Friday afternoon.
Whitmire says elections changed the equation
Whitmire said he took the action after consulting with the state’s newly elected governor, lieutenant governor, and comptroller, and he said the move would “reduce fear and anxiety” across Texas’ most populous city because “elections matter,” Reuters reported.
“This is the right thing to do at the right time,” Whitmire said at a news conference announcing the order. “I do this to begin a healing process.” He said he hoped the order would become a model for other Texas cities.
Houston Police Chief J. Noe Diaz joined Whitmire at the news conference and said he supports the change. Diaz said the department has already begun to put the new policy in place and sent a department-wide memo to officers.
Diaz gave a traffic stop as an example of how the policy works. “For example, if our police officers pull someone over for a minor traffic infraction and they write a citation, that person receives a citation and goes about their day,” Diaz said. “HPD will no longer contact ICE if they have an administrative warrant and they are not arrested.”
Order runs against state law
The order runs against a Republican-backed state law that bars so-called sanctuary city policies. Whitmire voted against that law, Senate Bill 4, as a member of the state Senate in 2017.
Months ago, when Houston City Council members sought an ordinance giving officers discretion not to notify ICE, Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to withhold at least $110 million in public safety grants, and city officials backed down. Whitmire said at the time that the city had no choice but to comply.
On Friday, Whitmire said Tuesday’s elections had changed the political picture. Abbott lost his bid for a fourth term to Democrat Gina Hinojosa on Tuesday.
Whitmire said the order enforces Senate Bill 4 in line with its supporters’ stated goal of cracking down on criminals who are in the country illegally. “We’re taking an interpretation of the law today, working with the newly elected members of the state leadership, in implementing this policy,” he told reporters. “We don’t want people to worry about their workers, their family members, their students.”
Houston has been a flashpoint in the immigration debate this year, including the surrender of an indicted ICE officer in the city. Federal immigration officers also fatally shot a Mexican homebuilder in Houston this summer, USA Today reported.
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and USA Today.
