HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s mayor on Friday directed police to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, signing an order that he called a result of Democrats reclaiming power in Texas for the first time in decades.
The shift in the nation’s fourth-largest city is one of the first actions to restrict U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in response to Democrats’ rout in Tuesday’s midterm elections. It is also a sign the results
are already having an impact in Texas, where Republican leaders have enthusiastically embraced President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
The stunning victories included Democrat Gina Hinojosa ousting Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, which will make her Texas’ first Latina governor and the first member of her party to hold the office in more than 30 years. Abbott, a Trump ally, has threatened Texas cities over attempts to curtail immigration enforcement.
“I’ve said many times, elections matter,” Mayor John Whitmire said.
Whitmire, a Democrat, said the city would go after immigrants “that pose a danger, not those that are going about their family business, work and education.” In the case of a traffic incident, “you write a citation or you warn them and they go about their way,” he said.
Under the mayor's directive, Houston police should contact ICE only if the person it stops is arrested on a charge that is subject to jailing or if ICE issues an administrative warrant, meaning that the person is wanted by immigration officials.
Houston has been a recurring scene of protests to Trump's immigration crackdown in the wake of one ICE officer fatally shooting a Mexican homebuilder and another striking a man with a car. Last week, a grand jury in Houston indicted the ICE officer who was inside the vehicle on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
ICE has denied that the officer intentionally struck Miguel Parra Hernandez, whose leg was broken, and criticized Whitmire over making the policy change.
“We remain disappointed that sanctuary politicians seek to limit cooperation with ICE, as our law enforcement are simply fulfilling their sworn duties to serve and protect our communities," the agency said in a statement.
Despite a one-time $75 billion infusion from Congress, ICE remains heavily dependent on local police to find people subject to deportation and turn them over. It has done so partly by signing about 2,600 agreements — many in Texas — to deputize local police and other state and local agencies to enforce immigration laws. Texas has been a primary target for ICE arrests.
Abbott has closely aligned the state with the Trump administration to collaborate on enforcing federal immigration laws. In April, he had threatened to take away nearly $200 million in public safety grants from Austin, Dallas and Houston after city officials in Houston tried to limit police officers’ cooperation with ICE.
Though Trump’s promise to arrest and deport immigrants living in the country illegally was popular during his campaign, Americans now disapprove of his approach to immigration enforcement.
In Texas, more than half of voters in the state’s Senate race said the Trump administration’s actions on immigration enforcement had “gone too far,” according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of more than 5,000 voters in Texas. About 2 in 10 voters said it had “not gone far enough,” and a similar share said it’s “been about right.” That was roughly in line with what voters said nationally.
The change was celebrated by immigrants' rights activists in Houston who have been critical of Whitmire. Collaboration between local police and federal agents has made people afraid of getting stopped for a traffic ticket or calling for help, said Cesar Espinosa, executive director at FIEL, an immigrant rights group in Houston.
“It means that the mom taking her kid to school is not going to have a panic attack every time she sees HPD,” Espinosa said.
Ruby Powers, a Houston immigration attorney, said trust won't be restored right away.
“It will probably take some time for the Houston immigrant community to truly feel a little bit safer than they did before this executive order took place,” Powers said.
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Wilder reported from Austin, Texas, and Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas. Associated Press reporters Elliot Spagat in San Diego, Jesse Bedayn in Austin and Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.
