The mayor of Houston, John Whitmire, has issued an executive order requiring the city’s police department to significantly curtail its collaboration with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Announced on Friday, the policy shift marks a notable departure from previous administrative practices, occurring just days after a significant shift in Texas’s statewide political landscape following the recent midterm elections.
Under the terms of this new directive, Houston Police will now only initiate contact with federal immigration authorities when an individual is being taken into custody for a jailable offence. This effectively ends the practice of referring individuals to ICE following stops for minor traffic violations, even in instances where the person may have an outstanding administrative immigration warrant. Mayor Whitmire stated that he consulted with the state’s newly elected governor, lieutenant governor, and comptroller before finalizing the decision, characterizing the move as a step toward fostering a healing process within the city.
“Elections matter,” Mayor Whitmire told reporters during the announcement. “I do this to begin a healing process,” he added, expressing his hope that the city’s new approach could serve as a template for other municipalities across Texas. At the same press conference, Houston Police Chief J. Noe Diaz confirmed his support for the policy, noting that the department has already commenced the implementation phase of these updated operational guidelines.
This executive order effectively reverses a previous policy that Mayor Whitmire had implemented in April. At that time, the administration faced intense pressure from outgoing Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who had threatened to withhold approximately $110 million in state public safety grants. Governor Abbott had argued that prior local ordinances intended to limit police cooperation with federal immigration agents were in violation of Senate Bill 4, a 2017 state law that prohibits local law enforcement from restricting such collaboration. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had also launched legal action against the mayor, the city council, and the police chief regarding those earlier policies.
The issue of police-ICE coordination has become a focal point of public concern in Houston. Data reported by the Houston Chronicle indicates a substantial rise in interactions between the two agencies, with city police reportedly contacting ICE at least 107 times during the first eight months of 2025, a sharp increase from the nine recorded contacts during the entirety of 2024. Public scrutiny intensified following a high-profile incident in July, in which an ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a long-term resident of the city.
Local advocacy groups have responded to the announcement with approval. FIEL, an immigrant rights organization, celebrated the order as a positive development for the city, though the group noted it felt the change was overdue. “Today Houston won. Today our community can breathe easier,” stated Cesar Espinosa, the executive director of FIEL. Mayor Whitmire emphasized that the policy change is intended to alleviate fears among students, workers, and families within the city, stating, “We don’t want people to worry about their workers, their family members, their students.”
The impact of this policy shift is already extending beyond Houston’s city limits. Following the announcement, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson requested that city officials evaluate and revise their existing policies concerning ICE warrants. As the municipal administration in Houston begins to operate under these new guidelines, the city remains under observation to determine how these changes will affect local law enforcement operations and community relations in the long term.
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