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Immigration

Houston mayor orders police to limit contact with ICE on minor offenses

Mayor John Whitmire says 'elections matter' after Democrats won Texas races, while a Homeland Security spokesperson says the department is disappointed by limits on ICE cooperation.

21 news outlets reported this
Liberal8 outletsWhitmire's shift, set against Houston's ICE incidentsCenter5 outletsThe signed order and its exact termsConservative8 outletsDemocratic sweep prompts Whitmire's early anti-ICE directive
Published 4 min readMoney and daily life
Overview

Houston Mayor John Whitmire, a Democrat, signed an on Friday limiting how city police cooperate with federal immigration authorities. He heralded "a new model" of enforcement. The Associated Press reports that under the directive, police should contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or , only if a person they stop is arrested on a jailable charge or if ICE issues an administrative warrant.

The Center Square reports that after the signing, Police Chief Noe Diaz sent a department-wide memo, and that Diaz said, "ICE will only be contacted if someone commits a jailable offense." Whitmire said a traffic stop would end with a citation or a warning, with no ICE contact over nonviolent offenses. The move follows Tuesday's elections, in which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott lost to Democrat Gina Hinojosa.

Whitmire said "elections matter." The Center Square reports that Abbott had threatened to cut state funding over police policies in Democratic-run cities, and Houston revised its rules. A Department of spokesperson told Fox News Digital the department is disappointed by politicians who limit cooperation with ICE.

ICE spokespersons did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Key figures
  • $75 billion one-time infusion for ICE from Congress — The Seattle Times
  • about 2,600 agreements deputizing local police and other agencies to enforce immigration laws — The Seattle Times
  • more than $100 million state funding Abbott threatened to withhold, per Fox News — Fox News

Three sides of the story

Liberal8 outlets

Whitmire's shift, set against Houston's ICE incidents

The Guardian's version of the Associated Press report opens with Whitmire's promise of "a new model" of enforcement after Democrats won power in Texas. It adds Houston context: ICE agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a July traffic stop, and a neighbor told the paper, "We feel it on a level we can't even describe." It also reports the of ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales and quotes Cesar Espinosa of Fiel Houston saying, "Today Houston won."

PBS NewsHour headlines the mayor's "Elections matter" and calls the change one of the first actions to restrict ICE since Democrats' "rout" in Tuesday's midterms. The New York Times headline says Houston police will stop alerting ICE during traffic stops. The Times reports that Whitmire has told officers not to alert immigration agents to people without legal status met in ordinary street stops.

Center5 outlets

The signed order and its exact terms

The Seattle Times runs the AP report under a headline saying Whitmire signs an order limiting ICE cooperation and says "elections matter" after Democrats win. It sets out the terms: contact with ICE only after a jailable arrest or with an administrative warrant, which it defines as an order signed by a senior ICE official. It quotes the order's line that suspected immigration status "shall not, by itself, be a basis to contact ICE."

The report adds that ICE did not immediately respond, notes the indictment of officer Mario Alberto Morales and ICE's competing account of the incident, and describes ICE's reliance on local police under about 2,600 agreements. Border Report carries the same headline. It reports that the mayor directed police on Friday to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, in an order he described as a direct outcome of the Democratic return to power in Texas.

Conservative8 outlets

Democratic sweep prompts Whitmire's early anti-ICE directive

The Center Square calls it an "anti-ICE directive" issued days after Democrats swept state government leadership. It quotes Whitmire on reducing "fear and anxiety" and reports that Police Chief Noe Diaz sent a department-wide memo after the signing, with Diaz saying, "ICE will only be contacted if someone commits a jailable offense." It also reports Abbott's earlier funding threat and says Democratic-led cities are expected to adopt similar policies.

Fox News says Whitmire "bolts early" from ICE cooperation after a "blue wave" and notes that Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa does not take office until January. It quotes a DHS spokesperson, who says the department is disappointed by "sanctuary politicians" and names convicted people ICE arrested in Houston. Just the News, citing the AP, reports that Whitmire "vows" to limit cooperation after the state flipped blue.

It also reports that the Harris 's Office indicted an ICE agent in a separate incident.

What a side did not mention
Money and daily life

The order changes what Houston police do when they stop someone. Whitmire said a traffic stop would end with a citation or warning and no contact with ICE. Under the order, as AP reports it, police would still contact ICE if the person is arrested on a jailable charge or if ICE has an administrative warrant.

All sources: 21 articles from 21 outlets

Liberal (8)

Center (5)

Conservative (8)

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