Mayor John Whitmire said the city would stop pursuing funds from the federal Model Cities Initiative program after the application was submitted before receiving approval from the City Council.
Houston will withdraw a request for $150 million in federal funds for public safety after weeks of doubts about the program’s conditions and its relation to immigration enforcement.
Mayor John Whitmire confirmed on Monday, October 5, that the city would stop participating in the Model Cities Initiative, a Department of Justice program that will distribute approximately $300 million among two to four cities.
The decision also revealed that city staff had submitted the application prior to obtaining the required approval from Houston’s City Council. Whitmire attributed the premature submission to an attempt to meet the federal deadline of September 1 and said the city would withdraw the application due to that error and the lack of clarity about the program’s conditions.
Houston had requested $150 million for security and services
The Houston proposal aimed to allocate funds to various areas of public safety and local services, including programs against violent crime, care for the homeless, and services related to domestic violence.
The plan anticipated the participation of more than a dozen local agencies and organizations, including the Houston Police Department, Harris County, METRO, and the city’s health department.
The funds, however, had never been approved for Houston. The city was participating in a competitive process, and the Department of Justice still must select the jurisdictions that will receive the money.
Federal rules include immigration operations among their priorities
The conditions of the Department of Justice’s Model Cities Initiative require proposals to align with several federal public safety priorities.
The first of these priorities directly includes supporting police operations, including those related to immigration enforcement. The program also requires cooperation with the Department of Justice during the implementation of the funded projects.
The rules also state that programs that hinder the enforcement of federal immigration laws, including failure to meet certain requirements or requests by federal agencies, will not be funded.
Those conditions had raised questions among council members and people who attended public sessions about whether accepting the funds could expand Houston’s participation in actions related to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE.
The Council had not approved the September submission
Houston’s potential participation in the program appeared on the municipal agenda in September, but the matter was withdrawn on more than one occasion while the administration sought clarifications from the federal government.
The submission, however, had already been submitted before those discussions to meet the program’s deadline.
Whitmire said on Monday that the submission occurred before the Council granted the required approval, and that the city would not continue seeking the funds.
The episode adds another discussion about the relationship between funding for public safety and Houston’s immigration policies.
Houston already faced a $110 million dispute linked to ICE
The city faced a different but related situation in April 2026. Governor Greg Abbott then threatened to withdraw approximately $110 million in state public safety funds after the Council approved restrictions on certain interactions between Houston police and ICE.
The federal program will still distribute nearly $300 million
The Model Cities Initiative was introduced by the Department of Justice in June 2026. The program aims to select two to four cities to fund over three years projects related to public safety, police technology, mental health, prevention of youth violence, services for victims, and reintegration programs after incarceration.
The Department of Justice contemplates approximately $300 million in federal funds for the program. Houston will no longer be among the cities seeking to receive them after withdrawing its application.
