Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced Friday that the city would restrict its police department’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities, marking what he described as a new approach to immigration enforcement. The policy follows recent Democratic electoral victories in Texas, a state that has traditionally been a focal point for immigration enforcement activities. Whitmire stated that enforcement priorities would focus on immigrants who pose dangers to public safety, rather than individuals engaged in routine activities such as work, education, or family responsibilities.
Under the new directive, Houston police are instructed to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement only when an individual has been arrested on charges subject to jailing or when ICE provides an administrative warrant signed by a senior official. Traffic incidents and other nonviolent, non-jailable offenses will no longer trigger automatic notifications to federal immigration authorities. The two-page order explicitly states that suspected immigration status alone cannot serve as grounds for contacting ICE, prolonging detention, or taking individuals into custody.
The policy announcement comes amid heightened tensions between local communities and ICE operations in Houston. In July, ICE agents fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop in the Magnolia Park neighborhood. In October, an ICE agent struck an individual with a vehicle during pursuit of another suspect; a grand jury subsequently indicted ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales on aggravated assault charges. Prosecutors contend the agent intentionally struck Miguel Parra Hernandez, though ICE has maintained the individual ran in front of the vehicle.
ICE officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the mayor’s announcement. According to reporting, ICE maintains approximately 2,600 agreements with local agencies nationwide, many in Texas, that allow local law enforcement to assist in immigration enforcement operations. The agency remains substantially dependent on local police cooperation to identify and apprehend individuals subject to deportation. Immigrant-rights advocates welcomed the Houston announcement, with local organizations indicating they had been seeking such policy changes for months.
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