Houston limits its police cooperation with ICE after the Democratic victory in Texas

Houston Mayor John Whitmire signed an order on Friday limiting the city police's cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in one of the first steps to curtail the immigration agency's powers after Democrats won Tuesday's elections in Texas.

Under the new two-page directive, Houston police should contact ICE only if the person detained is arrested on a charge carrying a jail sentence, or if the agency issues an administrative warrant indicating it is seeking that person. "The fact that a person is, or is suspected of being, subject to immigration enforcement shall not, by itself, be a reason to contact ICE, prolong any detention, or detain any person," the order states.

Whitmire said the city would go after immigrants "who pose a danger, not those who are minding their family business, work and education." For a traffic incident, he said, people "don't even get a ticket or a warning and go on their way," with no ICE contact for nonviolent offenses that carry no jail time.

The change comes in the fourth-largest city in the United States, one of the main stages of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Houston saw protests after an ICE agent shot and killed a Mexican homebuilder this summer and another ran over a man with a car. Last week, a grand jury indicted ICE agent Mario Alberto Morales on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

ICE criticized the policy change and defended its operations, while Texas Governor Greg Abbott has closely aligned the state with Trump's deportation agenda. Despite a one-time $75 billion injection from Congress, the agency still depends heavily on local police to find and hand over people subject to deportation.

Photo: El Nuevo Día

Source: El Nuevo Día