A snapshot of the Houston Police Department's policy to call ICE on community members

The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is a computerized system of criminal and missing person information that has been operated by the FBI since the late1960s. NCIC is meant for rapid access by state and local police during the course of their routine police enforcement. Historically, civil violations, such as immigration violations, were not added to NCIC. However, over the years, Congress authorized their entry. Over the weekend of February 23, 2025, the federal government added over 700,000 ICE warrants (sometimes also known as ICE administrative warrants) into the NCIC database.

It is important to note that an “ICE warrant” is not a real, warrant in that it is not reviewed by a judge or any neutral adjudicator to determine if it is based on probable cause. ICE warrants are not criminal warrants for criminal charges; they are civil administrative warrants for civil violations. Police do not have legal authority to arrest individuals based on an ICE warrant alone. ICE warrants are not the same as ICE detainers.

HPD’s entanglement with ICE goes beyond what state law requires, and they must draw a distinction between civil and criminal warrants. ICE warrants have caused confusion and resulted in police unlawfully detaining or arresting individuals based on these ICE warrants under the mistaken belief that they are criminal warrants or that local police had authority to arrest individuals solely for civil immigration violations. This has led to a number of states and local law enforcement agencies to pass policies like the Washington State Police. In most cases involving criminal warrants, if there are outstanding criminal warrants on a person in the NCIC database, police may arrest them on that criminal basis alone. However, most police do not have legal authority to arrest on the basis of ICE warrants. Thus, prolonging traffic stops to hold someone in order to wait for ICE to execute the arrest can risk liability for an unlawful seizure under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Local law enforcement and ICE entanglement hurt our communities and further drive the wedge of mistrust. We urge our representatives to hold HPD and other City agencies accountable for their entanglement with ICE. We urge HPD and the City of Houston to end existing agreements that dedicate our valuable city resources to ICE.

SB 4 (2017) requires local law enforcement to comply with valid ICE detainer requests5  and prohibits any Texas town, county or higher education institution–hereafter referred to as local entities–from limiting their assistance to ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection. SB 4 prohibits local entities from having policies against asking about immigration status or limiting assistance in immigration enforcement. While it is legal for Texas law enforcement to inquire about immigration status during the course of enforcing Texas criminal laws, it is not required. SB 4 does not give local police the authority to perform immigration enforcement duties. That authority generally requires an agreement with ICE under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and is limited by the U.S. Constitution. 

Currently, Harris County does not have a 287(g) agreement but that will change once SB 8 goes into effect on January 1, 2026 and requires the sheriff of each county that operates a jail or contracts with a private vendor to operate a jail to request and enter into a 287(g) agreement. However, it is important to note that SB 8 only applies to the sheriff and does not apply to the Houston Police Department (HPD). 

NCIC is a system that has been used by all law enforcement agencies around the country, the Houston Police Department (HPD) is no exception. However, HPD’s NCIC policy exceeds what SB 4 (2017) prescribes; critical advocacy could help reduce HPD’s role. At least since 2020, if the HPD officer comes across an ICE hit (or ICE warrant) in the database, the officer shall call ICE law enforcement service center (LESC). According to the February 26, 2025 email from Chief Thomas Hardin to HPD command staff, if ICE LESC offers a “reasonable amount of time” for HPD to wait for them to meet the officer at the scene, then waiting is considered acceptable. If ICE does not offer to meet the officer at the scene, the officer will select the option that does not involve transporting the noncitizen, such as collecting enough information to facilitate an arrest later on.  

As detailed above, SB 4 (2017) only requires that local law enforcement comply with valid ICE detainer requests and prohibits local entities from having policies limiting assistance in immigration enforcement but does not require them. The current HPD policy requires HPD to call ICE LESC as soon as they see an ICE hit (or ICE warrant), regardless of the situation. This has led to HPD calling ICE after conducting traffic stops8, on a domestic violence survivor trying to report her abuse and a mother and child stranded at Hobby Airport, to name a few examples. 

HPD’s entanglement with ICE is a violation and betrayal of community trust. Despite Mayor Whitmire denying HPD’s entanglement with ICE, HPD has been going above and beyond what state law requires for years. The addition of 700,000 ICE warrants in the NCIC system has highlighted the deep level of entanglement between ICE and HPD that goes against what local law enforcement has told our communities for years. According to the 2025 Kinder Institute’s Houston area survey, 72% of respondents disagreed that Houston would be better off if all noncitizens were deported. A majority of Houstonians do not want to see their neighbors uprooted from their communities because it is the culture and diversity that makes our city stronger. In fact, 1 in 4 residents cited diversity as the best thing about Houston. Therefore, in the spirit of what Houston stands for, we urge our representatives to hold HPD and other City agencies accountable for their entanglement with ICE. We urge HPD and the City of Houston to end existing agreements that dedicate our valuable city resources to ICE.