A proposal intended to cut back on coordination between the Houston Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must be revised, the city of Houston's legal department found on Thursday.
The proposal — spearheaded by city council members Alejandra Salinas, Abbie Kamin and Edward Pollard — would give HPD officers discretion over whether or not to notify ICE about civil immigration warrants. Under current policy, officers must contact ICE when they encounter "administrative warrants," which unlike criminal warrants are issued by ICE and not signed by a judge or magistrate.
The ordinance would also prohibit officers from detaining people or lengthening traffic stops solely because of an ICE administrative warrant.
In its finding, the city’s legal department argued officers are legally required to contact ICE about all immigration warrants, according to the three council members pushing for the change.
“We strongly disagree with this part of the opinion,” Salinas, Pollard and Kamin said in a joint statement Friday. “It is out of step with other major Texas jurisdictions and without this provision, under current policy, Houston police are forced to go beyond what state law mandates — pulling officers away from patrol and straining resources.”
They will revise the ordinance to remove officer discretion, Kamin told Houston Public Media.
“Time is of the essence to bring an item forward that brings relief to local law enforcement that is already strained,” Kamin said. “In addition to that, it’s also to bring relief to the community that is extremely concerned right now.”
City Attorney Arturo Michel did not respond to a request for comment.
In interviews withHouston Public Media, legal expertspresented conflicting perspectiveson police officers’ legal obligations during encounters with individuals who have administrative immigration warrants.
It's unclear whether detaining someone because of an ICE administrative warrant violates the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. But the matter is further complicated bySenate Bill 4— a law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2017 which outlawed local municipalities from curtailing police department collaboration with ICE.
The finding from the city's legal department posed a hurdle to a proposal long called for by civil rights advocates in Houston. Dozens of community members have called for changes to HPD policy at city council meetings over the past year, and the Houston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is organizing members to turn out at the public comment session slated for next Tuesday evening.
RELATED: City council members propose new HPD-ICE policy intended to reduce calls about immigration warrants
The relationship between HPD and ICE has been a point of contention between Whitmire and some members of the city council. With few exceptions, he hasdefended the actions of the police departmentwhile pushing back against council members who raised questions.
A spokesperson for Mayor John Whitmire did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Wednesday, he declined to express support or opposition to the initiative, only saying he wanted to "wait and see what the (legal) ruling is."
The proposal from Salinas, Pollard and Kamin came after a series ofHouston Chroniclereports revealed a ramp-up in coordination between HPD and ICE. Responding to the coverage, Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz confirmed earlier this month that officers turned over 85 people to ICE in 2025.
The proposed policy ran parallel to one already on the books in Dallas, where officers have discretion about whether or not to call ICE and are prohibited from prolonging stops to wait for officers to respond.
The Houston ordinance is expected to be considered by the city council in April.
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