Houston Mayor John Whitmire on Friday, Nov. 6, narrowed police contacts with federal immigration authorities, restricting them to jail-bound cases with a matching administrative warrant in a national database.
The executive order directs the Houston Police Department to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) only when someone is already going to jail on a new charge or another warrant and a National Crime Information Center (NCIC) check returns a positive match for an ICE administrative warrant. An immigration issue alone is not grounds under the directive for an arrest or a longer detention.
Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz said officers will not contact ICE after a minor traffic stop if the driver receives a citation and is not arrested, even if a database check finds an administrative warrant. Whitmire said at a news conference, “Elections matter.”
Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to withhold roughly $110 million in public-safety funding from Houston over its limits on police cooperation with ICE. The city later changed its policy after pressure from state officials.
Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa is due to take office in January.
