Good.
Alejandra Salinas
A proposal to change the way Houston police officers work with immigration agents looks set to move ahead with two of its three original provisions after the City Attorney’s office rejected one of them, saying it would have violated state law.
The proposal from a trio of council members would eliminate a requirement that officers wait a full 30 minutes for federal agents to pick up people on non-criminal administrative warrants issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and would require police leaders to compile reports on the department’s cooperation with ICE.
City attorneys rejected a third provision that would give officers discretion on when to call ICE, saying it might violate state law.
Council members Alejandra Salinas, Abbie Kamin and Edward Pollard on Friday said they were working to refile the proposal, while saying they “strongly disagree” with the legal ruling. Other Texas cities have made it discretionary for their officers to call ICE.
“It is out of step with other major Texas jurisdictions and without this provision, under current policy, Houston police are forced to go beyond what state law mandates – pulling officers away from patrol and straining resources,” the council members wrote in a joint statement.
However, the statement said, “This remains a strong ordinance that delivers real protections and transparency for Houstonians. We are moving forward because our communities cannot afford to wait.”
It’s unclear why City Attorney Arturo Michel’s office rejected the provision, given that Austin and Dallas have changed their policies to reduce how often officers call ICE for administrative warrants.
The ruling brings the proposal, which sidesteps Mayor John Whitmire’s authority, one step closer toward appearing on a city council agenda.
See here for the background. I hope that the rejected provision gets brought up as an amendment when Council votes on the ordinance, if only to make Arturo Michel explain his reasoning. But I agree that even without it, this is good work that will have a positive effect. I look forward to seeing this on the agenda.
Thanks to former council member Letitia Plummer for being the first to suggest, although she never found a third council member to sign on.
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/city-of-houston/2025/11/20/536775/houston-city-council-member-considers-proposal-giving-hpd-more-discretion-over-ice-intervention/
Arturo Michel’s reasoning is likely pretty simple: John Whitmire doesn’t want the provision, and the only way he keeps his job is to keep John Whitmire happy.