Houston City Council revises HPD-ICE policy change after threat from Texas governor

From Houston Public Media:

In a 13-4 vote on Wednesday, the Houston City Council revised a measure intended to limit the police department’s coordination with federal immigration enforcement.

Only two weeks earlier, the city council approved an ordinance prohibiting officers from detaining people or prolonging traffic stops due to civil immigration warrants issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office threatened to revoke about $114 million in public safety grants unless Mayor John Whitmire reversed the measure. Attorney General Ken Paxton also launched a lawsuit seeking to stop the ordinance. Whitmire said the city faced a “crisis situation” as the potential loss of funding would affect a wide range of initiatives, including police overtime.

“We have no alternative for Houston to survive, prepare for FIFA, patrol these neighborhoods, deal with sound ordinances … across this great city,” Whitmire said.

Under the revision, City Attorney Arturo Michel said, police officers will still be expected to not detain people or prolong traffic stops solely due to civil immigration warrants.

Officers should “comply with the Fourth Amendment,” Michel told Houston Public Media. “A person can be detained for the time needed to conduct the state law criminal investigation. So, in that sense, the original ordinance — that purpose remains the same.”

On Wednesday, Whitmire framed the revision as necessary to maintain a working relationship with the state government. Before the meeting, his office passed out papers to city council members outlining the more than $260 million in appropriations from the Texas Legislature to Houston in 2025. He said the change “reinforces the Fourth Amendment and protects our funding.”

“Austin is listening,” Whitmire said. “Austin is watching.”

He also cast shadows at council member Alejandra Salinas, a newcomer to the city council who spearheaded the ordinance over the past month.

“We enforce city and state law,” Whitmire said Wednesday. “We had a working system until about three months ago — when we had a special election.”

Even after the ordinance two weeks ago, the police department’s policy remained unchanged. According to a circular directive — first reported by the Houston Chronicle and independently obtained by Houston Public Media — department leadership told officers on April 11 to wait 30 minutes for ICE to respond to civil immigration warrants.

Michel said on Wednesday that HPD will have to change that policy.

Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, said in a statement the city council’s vote “is a step in the right direction after Houston leaders put public safety at risk with reckless policies that undermined law enforcement.”

“Governor Abbott has been clear: cities in Texas must fully comply with state law and cooperate with federal immigration authorities to keep dangerous criminals off our streets,” Mahaleris also said. “… Governor Abbott expects any policy HPD ultimately adopts to comply with the City’s certification that it would fully cooperate with DHS. Governor Abbott will continue to use every necessary tool to protect Texans.”

Whitmire’s revision changes the definition of civil immigration warrants issued by ICE. The original ordinance said they “are not reviewed by a neutral magistrate or judge and are not probable cause for a criminal arrest.” The revision struck that definition and described the warrants as “commanding the arrest of an individual either to conduct removal proceedings or for removal.”

It also strips the word “only” from the original directive that “officers may temporarily detain an individual only as long as reasonably necessary to complete the legitimate purpose of the initial stop or investigation,” while adding the phrase “and for other legitimate purposes discovered during the detention.”

Whitmire said officers will consider “the totality” of a situation before detaining anyone. Under questioning from Salinas, he avoided giving a specific answer about whether a civil immigration warrant alone would be sufficient cause to detain someone.

Council members Salinas, Abbie Kamin and Edward Pollard authored the original ordinance. Salinas described Whitmire’s revision as “Abbott’s proposed amendment.”

“It is unfortunate that you are unwilling to take this fight to court,” Salinas told Whitmire on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Salinas pushed to amend Whitmire’s revision. She wanted to clarify that civil warrants empower ICE officers, not HPD, to arrest people. After the city attorney said the change was unnecessary, she dropped the effort.

Mary Nan Huffman — one of the five council members who opposed the initial measure — argued Salinas’ push was “playing with fire.”

The revision “had to satisfy the governor so this funding can come to Houston,” she said.

Council member Joaquin Martinez — who supported the initial measure two weeks ago — also argued Salinas’ effort would cause turbulence between the city and state, imperiling public safety funding.

“We’re not thinking about the entire community,” Martinez said. “We need to move forward.”

In an unusual step, Whitmire prohibited city council members from using a parliamentary tactic known as “tagging” — which typically delays items by a week. Kamin attempted to challenge the prohibition but fell short in a 13-4 vote.

In the main vote, Salinas, Kamin and Pollard stood together. They were joined by council member Tiffany Thomas. In the first vote, they were joined by council member Tarsha Jackson in opposing the prohibition on tagging.

According to HPD, officers turned over about 85 people to ICE last year.

The threat from Abbott came as the city faces a more than $170 million dollar budget deficit when the fiscal year ends in June — the same month FIFA World Cup matches kick off in Houston, during which the city expects to spend about $65 million in grant money on public safety initiatives.

Council member Sallie Alcorn, who chairs the budget and fiscal affairs committee, initially supported the measure two weeks ago. She backed Whitmire’s revision.

“I hate what has seemed like a choice between money and people — it’s disgusting, it’s horrible,” Alcorn said. She supported Whitmire’s revision “because what the city attorney has said is it is protecting people’s Fourth Amendment rights while also protecting our financial future.”

After issuing his ultimatum to Houston, Abbott turned his attention to Austin and Dallas. The policies there go further than in Houston, with officers given discretion over whether or not to even contact ICE. Dallas faces the potential loss of more than $30 million, while Austin has only about $2.5 million on the line. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson pledged to fight back, while the Dallas Police Department said it was reviewing its policies.

At the Houston City Council’s public comment session on Tuesday, more than 70 people signed up to speak about the measure — with the majority supporting the original ordinance. The administration didn’t release details about the revision until the session was underway.

Because Whitmire sought an amendment, rather than a repeal, he only needed 9 of 17 votes to revise the original measure. The administration initially sought to repeal the ordinance at a special meeting on Friday, which would’ve required 12 of 17 votes because of city rules. The meeting was cancelled late last week.

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