Houston police contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) more than 100 times and transferred 19 suspects to ICE custody in the second quarter of the year, but the police department has been advised to withhold details due to a pending federal lawsuit.
During a meeting of the Houston City Council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, Houston Police Department (HPD) Division Manager Jim Mallard formally presented a quarterly report on police cooperation with ICE showing that officers contacted the federal agency regarding detained individuals 103 times between April 1, 2026, and June 30, 2026.
Of the 103 detainees, 14 were arrested on new charges, two were transported to the hospital, and for nine, the hit from the National Crime Information Center was “not confirmed.”
Mallard noted that 45 percent of contacts with ICE resulted from traffic stops, 33 percent were related to calls for service, and 17 percent stemmed from accident scenes.
Although Police Chief Noe Diaz had been expected to answer further questions about the report, he did not appear at Tuesday’s meeting.
Committee chair and Vice Mayor Pro-Tem Amy Peck noted that pending litigation limited the information that would be shared by HPD.
“While we want to offer as much transparency as possible, please note that since this is now an ongoing lawsuit, there might be some specifics that cannot be shared,” she said.
Earlier this month, Honduran citizen Erick Lopez filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Houston and individual HPD officers for allegedly detaining him for ICE for at least two hours after a traffic stop on June 27.
Lopez was deported to Honduras but argued that since he had only an ICE administrative warrant and no criminal warrants, HPD officers violated his rights under the Fourth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by detaining him.
Houston City Council Member Alejandra Salinas expressed frustration that Diaz was not on hand to answer questions, but a city attorney advised Mallard not to explain why the police chief was not present because it would be a “violation of privilege.”
“That is an inaccurate interpretation of privilege,” Salinas retorted.
Earlier this year, Salinas pressed for a city policy that would have made it optional for HPD to contact ICE regarding administrative warrants. The city council instead approved an ordinance preventing officers from detaining suspects with ICE administrative holds beyond the time needed for the original stop, but after Gov. Greg Abbott warned that it would jeopardize public safety grants, the council revised the policy.
The ordinance still requires HPD to provide quarterly reports on police cooperation with ICE.
Salinas queried Mallard further about the reported 14 occasions on which HPD had contacted ICE due to an administrative warrant for a crime victim, but he was again advised by the attorney not to answer. He was also unable to answer numerous questions related to the report, but advised council members the department may be able to provide additional information later.
Council Member Joaquin Martinez sought additional information on how long officers detained individuals beyond the reported average of 39 minutes, and noted that calls for HPD service were down about 20 percent across the city.
“Understanding that we’re under the lawsuit, but these are questions that need to be addressed as well,” he said. “So, at some point HPD command staff should share these answers with us.”
Martinez added that he wants “to make sure we are addressing these breakdowns in trust when folks are not feeling safe to call HPD.”
Peck told the committee that despite the looming lawsuit, she did not want to cancel the hearing.
“I think we all have questions that we want answers to that we’re unable to get today,” she said. “I wish there was more we could offer today, and I’m disappointed that there wasn’t more that could be said.”
HPD is just one of more than 60 law enforcement agencies in the county. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) does not have a written policy on cooperation with ICE, but an HCSO spokesperson last year said the jail turns over about 15 people to ICE custody a day.
The shooting death of illegal alien Lorenzo Salgado at the hands of ICE agents in July has sparked local backlash against immigration enforcement efforts but without the violent demonstrations seen in other parts of the country.
Abbott announced that the Texas Rangers would be working with federal agencies to investigate the circumstances surrounding Salgado’s death, and Harris County has approved up to $2.5 million for the district attorney’s office to conduct an independent investigation.