Houston mayor limits police cooperation with ICE after Democratic wins

Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced on Friday that the city is scaling back police cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to reports from the Washington Examiner, msnbc.com, and PBS NewsHour. Whitmire signed an executive order directing local police to limit their interaction with federal immigration officials following recent Democratic election victories in Texas. [1][2][3]

Under the new policy, Houston police will no longer inform federal immigration authorities about administrative immigration warrants during routine encounters or traffic stops, msnbc.com and Fox News reported. Police will only notify federal authorities if an individual is arrested for a crime that carries a potential jail sentence or for nonviolent offenses where previous state mandates applied. [2][5]

Whitmire stated that the policy change was a direct response to Democratic candidates winning key elections across Texas, PBS NewsHour and the Washington Examiner reported. The Washington Examiner noted that Whitmire, a centrist Democrat, had previously acceded to threats from state Republicans who had threatened to strip funding from Houston if the city did not cooperate with federal immigration agencies. [1][3]

The measure in Houston, which is the fourth-largest city in the United States, represents one of the first official policy changes to restrict federal immigration operations in the wake of the midterm election results, PBS NewsHour reported. [3]