Houston Mayor John Whitmire said at a Friday press conference that he’s directing police officers to scale back cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the New York Times reports.
The move bucks a policy imposed by Gov. Greg Abbott, who lost in the midterms to Democrat Gina Hinojosa.
As directed by an executive order from the mayor, Houston police officers will no longer alert ICE when they encounter an undocumented migrant during routine traffic stops or in connection with other low-level infractions, according to the Times.
Whitmire said the decision was intended to reduce fear among Houston’s immigrant communities. He also noted that Tuesday’s election results played a significant role in his decision.
“I do this to begin a healing process. Reduce fear and anxiety across our community,” Whitmire said during Friday’s press conference. “I also do this knowing that elections matter.”
Instead, officers will only alert ICE in cases where a person has been arrested and is being brought to, or has already arrived at, a county jail.
“If they’re charged with a new crime, we’ll let ICE know as we get them to the jailhouse,” the mayor said in an interview with the Times. “We just are not going to deal with the nonviolent contacts.”
The announcement comes just days after Democrats swept statewide races in Texas, picking up the governor’s seat as well as the attorney general’s office, with the potential to drastically alter the political environment surrounding immigration enforcement in the state.
Houston Police Chief J. Noe Diaz said the department began implementing the directive Friday and has distributed instructions to officers, according to a report by Click 2 Houston.
“The message is clear. ICE will only be contacted if someone commits a jailable offense,” Diaz said.
Now, if an officer pulls someone over for a minor traffic violation and issues a citation, the driver will be allowed to leave, even if an ICE warrant appears in the system.
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