Houston mayor orders narrower police contact with ICE
Houston says police will contact ICE only in a narrower set of arrest cases, as the city and Texas officials remain at odds over immigration enforcement.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire has ordered a narrower rule for police contact with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Texas Tribune and reports report that officers should contact ICE only when a person has been arrested for an offense that can lead to jail and also has an ICE administrative warrant.
A driver stopped for a minor traffic violation and released with a citation would not trigger an ICE notification under the new direction, Houston Police Chief J. Noe Díaz said, according to the Tribune and a news report. Whitmire said the change was intended to reduce fear and anxiety. The it was reported that he tied the decision to this week’s election results.
The policy follows a dispute over Houston’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The Texas Tribune reports that Texas law bars local police departments from limiting cooperation and that the governor had threatened state public-safety funding over earlier city policy changes. The sources reviewed describe the dispute, not a court ruling on this new order.