{"id":250161,"date":"2026-04-15T01:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/250161\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T01:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:08:10","slug":"fear-in-houston-immigrant-community-as-mayor-moves-to-reverse-ice-cooperation-ordinance-amid-110m-state-funding-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/250161\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear in Houston immigrant community as mayor moves to reverse ICE cooperation ordinance amid $110M state funding threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON \u2013 Houston immigrant families and advocates are reacting after Mayor John Whitmire moved to reverse a city ordinance limiting certain cooperation between Houston Police Department officers and federal immigration authorities, following a state threat to withhold more than $110 million in funding.<\/p>\n

The ordinance, approved by Houston City Council on April 8, changed how HPD handles civil immigration warrants, including procedures that affected how long individuals could be held while awaiting federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n

State leaders say the city may be out of compliance with grant agreements tied to public safety funding and have threatened to revoke millions of dollars if the ordinance is not reversed.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Gov. Abbott warns Houston to \u2018get out their checkbook\u2019 as immigration ordinance fallout hits Houston Police Department<\/a><\/p>\n

For some Houston residents, the issue is deeply personal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it makes them scared\u2026 not to be able to help out,\u201d said Kimberly Gonzalez, a Houston resident with family from Mexico.<\/p>\n

Gonzalez said the debate is creating fear within immigrant communities, especially among families with ties across borders.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look Hispanic\u2026 they\u2019re going to detain you as well,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Attorney Raed Gonzalez of Gonzalez Olivier LLC believes the mayor is incorrectly referencing SB4 as a reason for the move. Texas\u2019 Senate Bill 4 is a state law requiring certain cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cSB4 has been injuncted\u2026 it is more likely than not that statute is going to be found unconstitutional,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

SB4 remains tied up in court and has not been fully enforced statewide in its original form.<\/p>\n

Immigrant rights advocates say uncertainty around enforcement is already affecting daily life and community trust.<\/p>\n

C\u00e9sar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL, a Houston immigrant rights organization, said fear of enforcement could discourage residents from reporting crimes or seeking help from police.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so afraid that crimes are going to increase because people are afraid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As city leaders consider whether to reverse the ordinance, families say they are left questioning how it will affect safety and trust in Houston communities.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Houston immigrant families and advocates are reacting after Mayor John Whitmire moved to reverse a city…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57,5171,1829,3743,66,223,672,287],"class_list":{"0":"post-250161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-houston-headlines","10":"tag-houston-news","11":"tag-hpd","12":"tag-ice","13":"tag-john-whitmire","14":"tag-local","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-police","17":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}