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Kyle McClenagan\/Houston Public Media<\/p>\n
A Houston Police Department vehicle on July 9, 2026.<\/p>\n
The Houston City Council could approve an application<\/a> for a “Model Cities Initiative” grant administered by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday. <\/p>\n Under the grant guidelines<\/a>, cities “must ensure that their initiatives align” with a number of DOJ priorities, “including immigration law enforcement operations.”<\/p>\n In response to questions about the application, a spokesperson for Mayor John Whitmire said the city was “reviewing the possibility of applying for a grant as part of the Model City Initiative.”<\/p>\n Sign up for the Hello, Houston!<\/a> daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n “At this time, we are in the process of requesting clarification about the conditions and guidelines attached to these grants,” the spokesperson told Houston Public Media in a written statement. <\/p>\n Whitmire’s office did not answer questions about how much funding the city would seek or how the money would be used.<\/p>\n The city’s interaction with federal immigration enforcement has been a source of deep contention under Whitmire. <\/p>\n When Houston Police Department officers encounter people with civil immigration warrants, they’re required to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> (ICE), which operates under the Department of Homeland Security. <\/p>\n Those calls, and the amount of time people have been detained \u2014 up to three hours in one case this year, have prompted a reform effort from some city council members and a lawsuit from a man who was deported.<\/p>\n