Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced Friday that the city will limit its cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a policy shift aimed at focusing enforcement on individuals deemed dangerous rather than those involved in minor offenses.
The mayor stated that traffic incidents that do not result in jail time will no longer prompt contact with ICE, intending to reduce fear and anxiety within immigrant communities. This change is detailed in an executive order and represents one of the initial steps by the nation's fourth-largest city to curb ICE's authority.
This decision follows a period of heightened scrutiny and protests related to ICE activities in Houston. This summer, an ICE officer fatally shot a Mexican homebuilder, and in a separate incident, another officer struck a man with a car. In the latter case, prosecutors charged ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales with aggravated assault, alleging he intentionally rammed his vehicle into Miguel Parra Hernandez, whose leg was broken. Prosecutors contend that video evidence contradicts ICE's account that Parra Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle.
ICE relies significantly on local law enforcement to identify individuals for deportation, utilizing approximately 2,600 agreements nationwide to deputize local agencies for immigration enforcement. Texas has been a key area for such arrests, with Governor Greg Abbott having closely aligned the state with federal immigration enforcement efforts.