Houston Mayor Signs Order Limiting Police Cooperation With ICE
Houston Mayor John Whitmire signed an order on November 6, 2026, limiting how the city's police work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the federal agency that enforces immigration law. The Guardian reported that Whitmire said the city would target immigrants "that pose a danger, not those that are going about their family business, work and education."
Under the order, Houston police will not contact ICE over nonviolent offenses that cannot lead to jail. Traffic incidents that end in a citation or a warning do not count. Officers should contact ICE only if the person stopped is arrested on a charge that carries possible jailing, or if ICE issues an administrative warrant, a form of order issued by the agency itself.
The two-page order also states that a person's actual or suspected subjection to immigration enforcement is not, by itself, a basis to contact ICE, extend someone's detention, or take or hold a person in custody.
The Houston Police Department issued a new directive to carry out an amended immigration ordinance that Whitmire approved. The amended ordinance reaffirms the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures. It also allows the city to recover $114 million in state public safety funding.
The city's actions take place under a Texas state law. Senate Bill 4, passed in 2017, prohibits local entities from adopting policies that "prohibit or materially limit" cooperation with ICE. Nationally, ICE has signed about 2,600 agreements to deputize local police and other state and local agencies, meaning it gives them authority to enforce immigration laws.
Houston is the nation's fourth-largest city, and the order follows a fatal shooting in July. ICE agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop in Houston, and reports said the agents were looking for other individuals. Reuters reported that more than a thousand protesters chanting "ICE out of Houston" marched near the site of the shooting.
Whitmire has also demanded that the FBI share evidence related to the shooting with local police. Separately, a grand jury, which decides whether there is enough evidence to bring charges, indicted ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The indictment alleges that Morales intentionally rammed his car into Miguel Parra Hernandez, breaking his leg.
Asked about the order in connection with recent politics, Whitmire said "elections matter." The order came after Democrats had gained control of the governor's seat. News10 carried his remarks.
