Three City Council members want the new restrictions on Houston police to endure beyond the current administration. Mayor Whitmire warns that embedding them in the municipal code could create conflicts with state law.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire opposes a proposal to turn into a municipal ordinance the restrictions that were set on November 6, 2026 regarding interactions between the Houston Police Department (HPD) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Council members Alejandra Salinas, Edward Pollard, and Tiffany Thomas pushed the initiative on November 9. Their aim is to prevent a future mayor from unilaterally changing the new police directives and to broaden public information about HPD’s encounters with ICE.
The Whitmire office confirmed that the mayor backs his executive order, which is already in effect, but believes that adding provisions to municipal ordinances could increase the risk that Houston runs afoul of state law.
The November 6 order limits when HPD can contact ICE
Executive Order 1-74 states that HPD officers should not contact ICE solely because a person has an administrative immigration warrant.
These orders are documents used by federal immigration authorities and do not by themselves equate to criminal arrest warrants issued by a judge.
For example, if a driver receives a minor traffic ticket and is not arrested, police should allow them to leave without calling ICE simply because of the existence of an administrative immigration warrant.
HPD Chief J. Noe Diaz explained this procedure during the rollout of the new policy.
The order does establish contact with ICE when two conditions are met: the person is about to be incarcerated for new charges or other arrest warrants and, additionally, there is an administrative immigration order in the corresponding database.
It also prohibits using solely a suspicion about someone’s immigration status to prolong a detention or to keep someone in custody while federal agents arrive.
The measure regulates HPD’s actions. It does not prevent ICE from conducting federal operations independently.
Salinas, Pollard and Thomas want to incorporate the restrictions into the municipal code
The council members Alejandra Salinas, from At-Large 4; Edward Pollard, from District J; and Tiffany Thomas, from District F, seek to establish the restrictions through an ordinance approved by the City Council.
The difference is that an executive order can be modified by the mayor, whereas changing an ordinance would require Council involvement.
The proposal would preserve the limitations on calls and detentions related solely to administrative immigration orders.
It would also require HPD to provide more details in quarterly reports about its contacts with federal immigration authorities.
Among the data requested would be the reason a person was incarcerated, whether they were involved as a victim, witness or suspect, and a brief description of the circumstances of the encounter.
The promoters say that this information would help better understand how the policy is applied and would facilitate public oversight of those contacts.
HPD reported 17 handovers to ICE between July and September
The proposal to expand the reports comes after HPD published the results for the July-to-September 2026 quarter.
During that period, the department logged 88 encounters related to immigration matches in databases or contacts with ICE, among approximately 292,975 person verifications.
Of those 88 cases, 58 people were released on the scene, 17 were handed over directly to ICE, and another 13 were jailed for charges unrelated to immigration matters.
The figures correspond to a period prior to the November 6 executive order. Therefore, they do not yet indicate how the number of contacts with ICE will change under the new instructions.
Councilmember Thomas has requested more information about the circumstances of these encounters. The expanded reports proposed by the Council would include data that does not currently appear with that level of detail.
Whitmire warns of possible conflicts with Texas SB 4
The mayor’s office expressed opposition to incorporating new provisions into the municipal code, although Whitmire maintains his support for the instructions given to HPD.
In a response provided to FOX 26 Houston, the mayor’s office argued that modifying the ordinance could increase the risk that the city violates state law.
Whitmire has also stated his expectation that the new Texas authorities will review SB 4, which places restrictions on local policies regarding cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
As of November 10, the mayor’s office had not publicly identified which specific provisions of the new proposal it considers incompatible with state law.
For now, this is a legal concern expressed by the municipal government, not a judicial conclusion about the legality of the proposal.
Houston already modified an ICE ordinance after state pressure in April
The dispute has a recent precedent.
On April 8, 2026, the Houston Council approved an ordinance that limited certain contacts between HPD and ICE.
However, the Texas government subsequently warned that the city could lose more than $110 million in public safety funds if it maintained restrictions deemed contrary to state laws.
On April 22, the Council amended the ordinance. Although the changes altered the instructions on cooperation with ICE, the obligation to submit periodic reports on HPD’s contacts with immigration authorities remained.
After the elections of November 3, Whitmire decided to again modify the police instructions through an executive order. The mayor linked that decision to the political shifts occurring in Texas.
The proposal still needs legal review and a Council vote
Salinas, Pollard and Thomas push the initiative through Proposition A of the City Charter, which allows three Council members to request that a legally permissible matter be included on the agenda.
The City of Houston’s legal department must review the proposal before it can move forward toward a vote.
The promoters have indicated that the measure could reach the Council in December at the earliest. However, as of November 10 there was no confirmed vote date.
For the restrictions to be incorporated into the municipal code, the initiative still requires Council approval.
While that process unfolds, the November 6 executive order remains the current instruction for HPD regarding ICE contacts related to administrative immigration orders.
