Houston limits cooperation with ICE: what the mayor's order says

On Friday, November 6, Houston Mayor John Whitmire, a Democrat, announced an executive order limiting the city police’s cooperation with ICE, the US federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.¹² People who commit non-violent offenses will be released with a citation, without involving the agency. The decision comes a few days after the midterm elections of November 3, in which Democrats won the main statewide offices in Texas.¹²

What Whitmire’s order says

Whitmire gave the example of a traffic violation: the officer writes a ticket or a warning and the person moves on. “No contact with ICE for non-violent offenses that are not punishable by jail time,” he said, adding that this reduces fear and anxiety.³ The mayor explained that the city will focus on immigrants “who pose a danger,” not on those thinking about family, work and school, and he spoke of “a new model” of immigration enforcement. In front of reporters he said he was acting to start a process of reconciliation.³¹

What happened with the previous ordinance

Houston had already passed an ordinance to limit cooperation between police and federal immigration authorities. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, had opened an investigation, arguing that it violated the state law Senate Bill 4 (SB 4), which prevents cities from adopting policies that limit the enforcement of immigration rules.¹ Governor Greg Abbott had threatened to withhold $110 million in public safety funds if the ordinance was not repealed. In the end it was.¹²

Why the decision comes now

Abbott lost his seat as governor to Democratic state representative Gina Hinojosa. Paxton, who was not running for re-election as attorney general, was running for the US Senate and lost by 12 points to Democrat James Talarico. The Republican candidate to succeed Paxton was also defeated.¹ Whitmire acknowledged the role of the vote: “I know elections matter.” He added that he is in contact with the newly elected state officials and that SB 4 is not a priority for them.¹ Democrats won the Texas state House but remain a minority in the state Senate, which prevents them from fully overturning some Republican policies. According to the Guardian, Houston, the fourth-largest city in the United States, is one of the first moves to curb ICE’s powers since the vote.³¹

What changes

The order is a mayoral directive and not a change in law: SB 4, which was used against the previous ordinance, is described as a rule that bans cities from adopting policies of this kind.¹

This article was written by artificial intelligence from the sources cited, without human review. Automatic newsroom by Redazia.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Houston mayor looks to limit city’s cooperation with ICE after Democrats’ wins in Texas, The Hill, 2026-11-06 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. US midterms: After Texas governor Abbott’s defeat, Houston’s mayor changes course on ICE, The Straits Times · World, 2026-11-07 ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Houston to limit police cooperation with federal immigration authorities, The Guardian · World, 2026-11-06 ↩ ↩² ↩³