Houston Mayor Shifts Police Policy to Reduce ICE Coordination
John Whitmire directs officers to notify federal agents only upon jailable arrests, breaking from the state's previous policy after recent election shifts.
By Nikolai Morales ·
Houston Mayor John Whitmire issued an executive order on Friday requiring the city's police force to restrict information sharing with federal immigration agents.
The new directive alters how Houston Police Department officers handle administrative warrants from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under the previous protocol, officers were required to inform ICE if a suspect in their custody appeared in the National Crime Information Center database with an active federal warrant. Now, officers will only contact ICE if an individual is arrested for a jailable offense and holds an administrative warrant. Chief Noe Diaz explained that if a driver is stopped for a minor traffic violation and receives a citation, the officer will not notify federal partners.
Whitmire cited community sentiment as the primary driver for the shift. He stated on Friday that the move is intended to begin a healing process and reduce anxiety among residents. The mayor acknowledged the political weight of the decision, noting that elections matter. This policy change follows months of public outcry in Houston, which peaked after an ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national and long-time undocumented resident. Officials determined Araujo was not the intended target of that shooting.
The mayor's action creates a direct policy conflict with the state of Texas. Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who recently lost his re-election bid, had previously threatened to withhold millions of dollars in state funds from cities including Houston, Dallas, and Austin unless their police cooperated fully with federal immigration officials. Whitmire had previously resisted similar calls to change local policy, fearing the White House might deploy a surge of immigration officers in response. The mayor now controls what he can at the local level while calling on Congress to implement federal reforms. He specifically urged lawmakers to mandate better training, body cameras, and de-escalation techniques for ICE agents.
Federal and local political dynamics have shifted sharply following Tuesday's midterm elections. Democrats secured control of both the US Senate and the House of Representatives for the remainder of President Donald Trump's term. In Texas, voters elected Gina Hinojosa as the state's first Latina governor and its first Democrat governor since 1995. The state also elected its first Democratic senator since 1988. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told KPRC 2 that the department remains disappointed by what it called sanctuary politicians limiting cooperation. The spokesperson asserted that law enforcement partnerships are critical for arresting criminal illegal aliens across the country.
Austin has also begun implementing a similar policy change regarding police cooperation with federal immigration officials. Whitmire's announcement arrives one week after an ICE officer in Texas was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly striking a man with a vehicle.
