Houston to limit police cooperation with federal immigration authorities
Mayor said only immigrants that ‘pose a danger’ would be referred to ICE, after Democrats gain control of governor’s seat The mayor of Houston on Friday said the city would limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, heralding “a new model” of immigration enforcement after Democrats won power in Texas for the first time in decades. Houston’s mayor, John Whitmire, said the city would…
Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced on Friday that the city will limit its cooperation with federal immigration authorities, a move CityNews describes as one of the first steps to curb the powers of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following recent elections in Texas. According to Whitmire, the city intends to target immigrants who pose a danger rather than those engaged in work, education, or family business.
Under a new two-page directive, Houston police are instructed not to contact ICE over nonviolent, non-jailable offenses, such as traffic incidents. CityNews reports that police should only contact ICE if an individual is arrested on a charge subject to jailing or if an administrative warrant has been issued by a senior ICE official. The order states that a person's status as a subject of immigration enforcement is not, by itself, a valid basis to contact ICE, prolong a detention, or take a person into custody.
Brief written by urgent.news from The Guardian US, CityNews, Winnipeg Free Press — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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