Houston City Council amended an ordinance that limited how the city’s police cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned that the policy could cost Houston millions of dollars in public-safety grants. The amendment came after Abbott threatened to withhold funding from Houston, Austin and Dallas, three large Texas cities with Democratic leadership, according to the Associated Press.
Two weeks before the Wednesday vote, Houston City Council approved an ordinance that eliminated a requirement that officers wait 30 minutes for ICE to pick up a person detained on a nonjudicial administrative warrant. Under the earlier version of the policy, if ICE did not arrive in time, Houston police would take the detained person’s information and then release them.
Abbott warned that the council’s new ordinance and its limits on cooperation with ICE violated terms tied to $110 million in state grants Houston had received for police and security connected to the World Cup games hosted by the city in June. The threats followed pressure that has targeted other Texas cities as well, as local leaders work to avoid increased federal scrutiny while immigration enforcement remains aggressive.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also sued Mayor John Whitmire and members of the Houston City Council over the ordinance, accusing them of violating a 2017 state law. That law, according to the report, prevents cities from adopting policies that limit the enforcement of immigration laws and also bans “sanctuary city” policies in Texas, though it does not define the terms in a strict way.
After more than two hours of discussion, the council voted 13-4 to amend the ordinance. Whitmire said he had consulted Abbott’s office about changes intended to prevent Houston from losing its funding, and he argued that officials faced few workable alternatives as the World Cup approached. “We have no alternative for Houston to survive, prepare for (the World Cup), patrol these neighborhoods,” Whitmire said. “We’ve got to have today the restoration of the $114 million.”
In the amended ordinance, council members deleted language that highlighted that administrative warrants—used by ICE to take people into custody—were not enough for officers to arrest or detain someone. Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Abbott, said in a statement that the governor expects any policy Houston police adopt to comply with a city certification to fully cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security.
Some council members backed the ordinance’s original goal and opposed changing it. Abbie Kamin, one of three council members who had pushed for the earlier ordinance, voted against amending it and said the decision amounted to yielding to state pressure. “If we rollover now to a bully, what will he come for next?” Kamin said.
Other council members said they hoped the revised language would preserve constitutional protections and avoid holding people on nonjudicial warrants. Edward Pollard and Alejandra Salinas said they remained hopeful the changes approved Wednesday would not violate individuals’ constitutional rights and would not result in people being held on nonjudicial warrants.
Outside advocates said the amendment moved Houston closer to broader ICE cooperation. Nikki Luellen, an advocate for criminal justice reform with the ACLU of Texas, called the revised ordinance “a greenlight for deeper collaboration between ICE and the Houston Police Department.” Martha Castex-Tatum, who had supported the ordinance but voted in favor of amending it, said the change was about protecting the city’s finances. “For some people, this may feel like surrender. It’s not. It’s real stewardship,” Castex-Tatum said.
In addition to Houston, Dallas officials said they planned to respond to Abbott’s funding threat by Thursday and said they remained committed to ensuring public safety. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a moderate Democrat, said the local policy complies with state law and that Abbott’s warning about cutting nearly $3 million would reduce trauma aid for police officers and sexual assault victims, adding, “We don’t have the time and will not play into this political theater.” Austin officials later indicated they could try to negotiate with Abbott.