{"id":255013,"date":"2026-04-18T00:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T00:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/255013\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T00:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T00:50:09","slug":"pushback-grows-over-texas-governors-threat-to-withhold-public-safety-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/255013\/","title":{"rendered":"Pushback grows over Texas governor’s threat to withhold public safety money"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Criticism is mounting over the threat to withhold public safety grants from Austin and other major Texas cities, with opponents arguing the move is politically motivated as both the governor and attorney general seek office this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefunding the public safety for political reasons was wrong when the Democrats did it; still wrong when the Republicans do it,\u201d the former executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, Charley Wilkison, wrote on X.<\/p>\n

\"{p}Criticism<\/p>\n

Criticism is mounting over the threat to withhold public safety grants from Austin and other major Texas cities, with opponents arguing the move is politically motivated as both the governor and attorney general seek office this year. (Photo: CBS Austin)<\/p>\n

The statement came hours after Governor Greg Abbott threatened to cut $2.5 million in public safety funding to Austin. The governor expressed opposition<\/a> to Austin\u2019s decision to update its policy governing how police handle administrative warrants used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in immigration detentions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city has updated its general orders to align with state and federal law and also to protect the Fourth Amendment of Austin residents who should be free from unlawful search and seizure,\u201d said Austin City Councilmember Mike Siegel.<\/p>\n

ALSO| Gov. Abbott threatens to withhold $2.5 million from Austin regarding APD ICE policies<\/a><\/p>\n

KEYE<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Houston and Dallas are also facing similar threats<\/a> from the governor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe statement from the governor\u2019s office was really disappointing and frankly it\u2019s wrong on the law and it\u2019s wrong on what\u2019s good for public safety,\u201d Siegel said.<\/p>\n

In a statement provided in response to a request for an interview, the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas said, \u201cLaw enforcement officers continue to be dragged into political warfare while real public safety issues are ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president of the Austin Police Association did not respond to a request for comment regarding the potential impact on officers.<\/p>\n

A request for comment to the governor\u2019s office received a previously issued statement from Abbott\u2019s press secretary, which read: \u201cA city\u2019s failure to comply with its contract agreement with the state to assist in the enforcement of immigration laws makes the state less safe. It can have deadly consequences. Cities in Texas are expected to make the streets safer, not more deadly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siegel defended the city council\u2019s position, stating, \u201cI can speak for myself as one of 11 voting members of our city council. We\u2019re not going to sell our values for a couple million dollars in public safety grants.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Criticism is mounting over the threat to withhold public safety grants from Austin and other…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-255013","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-texas","9":"tag-texas-headlines","10":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255013","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=255013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}