Houston council aims to lock in police-ICE limits

Three Houston City Council members want to prevent a future mayor from easily reversing current limits on police cooperation with federal immigration agents. Alejandra Salinas, Edward Pollard, and Tiffany Thomas introduced a new ordinance on Monday. The measure would codify policies that Mayor John Whitmire signed into an executive order on Nov. 6. An executive order can be undone by a successor with a signature. A city ordinance requires a legislative vote to change.

The proposal restricts when Houston Police Department officers can prolong a traffic stop or detain someone based on a civil administrative immigration warrant. Officers could still act if the person is arrested for a jailable criminal offense. Administrative warrants are issued by federal immigration authorities, not judges. The ordinance also tightens quarterly transparency reports. HPD would have to specify the reason for each jail booking and note whether ICE was contacted regarding a victim or a suspect.

This follows a dispute that began in April. The City Council then approved an initial ordinance limiting HPD-ICE contact. That earlier measure ended a practice where officers waited up to 30 minutes for ICE to arrive if an administrative warrant appeared. State officials opposed that move. They threatened to withhold more than $110 million in public safety funding. Whitmire pushed to amend the April measure, citing the risk of losing state and federal grants.

The new proposal, labeled Prop A immigration ordinance, builds on that earlier effort. In a joint statement, the three council members cited recent incidents involving ICE. They referenced the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and the serious injuries suffered by Miguel Parra-Hernandez. "The killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and the serious injuries Miguel Parra-Hernandez suffered at the hands of ICE underscore the urgency," Salinas, Pollard, and Thomas said. They also noted that Democrats won the governor's and attorney general's races in last week's statewide election. "On election night, Texans stood up to the bullies in Austin," the council members said.

Whitmire's executive order took effect immediately. HPD Chief J. Noe Diaz stated the directive was distributed to officers the day it was announced. He said the policy would be read at roll call for five consecutive days. The department's most recent quarterly report covers July through September. It documented 88 immigration-related ICE contacts. In those encounters, 17 people were transferred to ICE custody. Fifty-eight were released at the scene. The average detention time for traffic stops rose to 46 minutes by September. That figure drew criticism from Salinas and immigrant advocates.

FIEL Houston, an immigrant advocacy group, welcomed the executive order. Executive Director Cesar Espinosa said the community can breathe easier. "As a collective we still demand ICE out of Houston," Espinosa said. The proposed ordinance has not yet been scheduled for a City Council vote.