Texas Cities Pull Back Cooperation With ICE After Midterm Elections
Summary
Houston Mayor John Whitmire signed an order limiting when city police notify ICE about people with administrative immigration warrants. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson also directed police officials to draft changes to department rules on federal immigration authorities. The moves come amid debate over local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and face limits under Texas law.Key Facts
- Houston police will notify ICE about an administrative immigration warrant only when the person is arrested for an offense that can lead to jail.
- Under Houston’s order, officers will not contact ICE solely because a warrant appears during an encounter that ends with a warning or citation.
- Austin Mayor Kirk Watson directed Police Chief Lisa Davis to draft revisions to police department rules concerning federal immigration authorities.
- Texas Senate Bill 4, enacted in 2017, restricts local governments’ ability to limit cooperation with federal authorities.
- The article says the changes follow fatal encounters involving federal immigration officers, including a July shooting in Houston.
- Federal officials said officer Lorenzo Salgado Araujo tried to use his vehicle against an officer before the officer shot him; his family and civil rights groups have called for an independent investigation.
- The Migration Policy Institute estimates that ICE and Customs and Border Protection carried out about 980,000 formal removals and returns during the first 18 months of President Donald Trump’s second term.
- The White House criticized the local policy changes, saying they would make Texans less safe.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.
