HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston police have updated department guidelines after journalists exposed that the Houston Police Department was violating its own policy when it comes to immigration enforcement.
“I am incredibly proud of the work that we are doing,” Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz said at a Wednesday press conference.
Houston police said they have changed how they handle people with administrative warrants after two reports that HPD officers were taking immigrants directly to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. A civil warrant allows ICE to make arrests if the person hasn’t been attending immigration court or is in the country without documentation.
HPD said they check for warrants during routine police work, like traffic stops.
Under the new policy, if an administrative warrant is found, a sergeant must go to the scene to confirm it before calling ICE. Once immigration is contacted, ICE agents only have 30 minutes to arrive at the scene before the person is released.
“This provides the opportunity to act on the warrant without pulling our officers out of the service for which they intended to work in that window. Additionally, officers will not transport anyone solely for the purpose of an administrative warrant,” Diaz said.
Today, the department revealed that in 2025, of the 350,000 police reports written, about 220 of those were related to ICE, and half of those 220 people were released at the scene.
Last year, 17 people were moved to meet an ICE agent at a nearby location. The chief said he wants that number to be zero.
“We will always work to improve our processes and training for the betterment of the department and ultimately the public that we serve,” Diaz said.
While Houston leadership says the law requires them to report administrative warrants, critics argue that improper documentation could put people in life-altering situations.
“The systems that we rely upon, that they rely upon, are not always up to date, and they are flawed. We’ve had many people who change status, and as they change status, it doesn’t update in the federal registry, so to them they still may have a federal administrative warrant pending,” Cesar Espinosa with immigrant rights group FIEL said.
FIEL said this new policy should have been in place since day one.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire was also at the Wednesday press conference, where he stood by his handling of the immigration crackdown, adding that he is following state and federal law.
Chief Diaz said the two officers who transported people to immigration officials were counseled to understand the policy, as he says, and that, at the time, they did not directly go against department policy.
ABC13 doesn’t know what happened to the other 15 officers, who police said, did similar things.
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