(Houston, Texas)—Rather than stand firm to protect all communities from the Houston Police Department’s (HPD) overzealous and unconstitutional collaboration with ICE since last year, the City Council voted to eliminate an ordinance that set clear parameters and 4th amendment protections for Houstonians. Today, the ordinance that was drafted by Mayor Whitmire and the Office of the Texas Governor, was passed 13-4 and leaves Houstonians at risk of violations of their Constitutional rights.
Mayor Whitmire claims that this version of the ordinance is lawful and is similar to the Ordinance passed on April 8, 2026 with overwhelming support. However, if this ordinance is similar, why is there a need to change it? The Immigrant Legal Resource Center, condemned the actions of the City Council members voting to approve the amended ordinance when the April 8th ordinance violated no laws and simply aimed to stop the rampant cooperation with ICE.
The amended ordinance shows that the majority of our City Council and our mayor are willing to bow to political pressure and sacrifice the rights of our community members. With the World Cup set to start in the Houston area in a few weeks, this amended ordinance gives HPD authority to enforce immigration laws when the Supreme Court has held they do not have the right to do so.
Data shows that from 2020 through 2024, HPD called ICE approximately nine times during routine encounters with the community. However, from January 2025 to October 2025, HPD called ICE more than 100 times, a jump of more than 1000 percent. The majority of these calls came from a traffic stop. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center will continue to monitor HPD’s behavior and continue to call for accountability for the waste of our local resources to do the federal government’s bidding through pressure from the state.