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Mayor John Whitmire and Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz speak to the media about the city\u2019s immigration policies, after reports that at least two officers violated policies by transporting people to ICE, during a news conference at HPD headquarters in Houston, Wednesday, March 11, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Attendees listen as Houston City Council Member Abbie Kamin speaks during a press conference outside City Hall in Houston on Thursday, March 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Mayor John\u00a0Whitmire has called a special Houston City Council meeting Friday to vote on whether to repeal an ordinance that changed how the Houston Police Department interacts with federal immigration agents.<\/p>\n
The move comes after Gov. Greg Abbott said Houston must revoke its policy or lose\u00a0$114 million in public safety grant funding<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The issue has thrust the typically low-profile City Council into the center of a statewide political fight over immigration enforcement. Abbott’s office has also begun looking into whether similar policies in other Texas cities violate state law<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n READ MORE: Mayor Whitmire reverses course on Houston ICE policy after Greg Abbott threatens city funding<\/a><\/p>\n Houston officials have debated the right response to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown for months, but the discussion has accelerated over the past month.<\/p>\n Among the factors was a March 5 Houston Chronicle investigation that the found Houston police in at least two cases detained drivers and transported them to ICE agents<\/a> \u2014 actions legal experts said could violate the Constitution. \u00a0ICE administrative warrants are civil documents that do not on their own give officers the authority to make arrests.<\/p>\n Whitmire and Police Chief Noe Diaz and\u00a0Whitmire acknowledged those cases violated city policy, and on March 11 announced a new policy, requiring officer to wait up to 30 minutes for ICE to respond to administrative warrants<\/a>. Some council members felt that change did not go far enough, and a\u00a0week later, three members proposed an ordinance<\/a> to further limit how long officers could detain people in those situations.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n City Council\u00a0approved parts of the proposal by a 12-5 vote on April 8<\/a>.<\/p>\n As council members prepare to revisit the policy, here’s what to know:<\/p>\n What does the ordinance do?<\/p>\n The ordinance approved by City Council<\/a> last week made two changes to Houston police policy.<\/p>\n First, it eliminated a requirement that officers wait up to 30 minutes for ICE agents to arrive when they encounter someone with a civil immigration warrant.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Under the new policy, officers are not allowed to extend a detention beyond the time necessary to accomplish the original purpose of the traffic stop. That means if the reason for the stop is resolved, the person must be released, even if federal agents have not arrived.<\/p>\n Second, the ordinance requires HPD to provide semiannual reports to the City Council detailing its interactions with federal immigration authorities. Those reports would include when officers contacted ICE, as well as information about the stops and individuals involved.<\/p>\n A third part of the council members’ original proposal would have made it optional for officers to contact ICE. That did not make it into the final ordinance. The city attorney’s office, which reports to the mayor, determined that provision could conflict with state law and removed the language before it reached a vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n How are the state and county responding?<\/p>\n Abbott’s office has said Houston’s policy violates state law and the terms of grant agreements that require local agencies to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In a letter to the city this week, the governor’s Public Safety Office warned that Houston could lose $114 million in grant funding, including $65 million to protect World Cup events<\/a>, if it does not reverse the policy by Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has also opened an investigation into the ordinance and has warned that local officials in Houston and other cities<\/a> could face legal consequences if their policies are found to conflict with a 2017 state law that bans so-called \u201csanctuary\u201d policies.<\/p>\n Abbott’s office also has begun looking into whether other Texas cities, including Austin and Dallas<\/a> are in compliance with state law and grant requirements. Both cities, unlike Houston, have made it optional for their officers to call ICE agents on people detained with civil immigration warrants.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the local level, Harris County commissioners are expected to discuss whether to pursue their own policy<\/a> governing how sheriff and constable deputies interact with ICE. Unlike HPD, those law enforcement agencies report to independently elected leaders, and any policy would come in the form of voluntary guidelines.<\/p>\n Why is Houston City Council meeting Friday?<\/p>\n