Houston police to limit cooperation with ICE as Democratic mayor takes over in Texas

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s newly-elected Mayor has directed the police to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities by signing an order on Friday which he said was the result of Democrats reclaiming power in Texas for the first time in decades.

The shift in the nation’s fourth-largest city is one of the first actions to restrict US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in response to Democrat’s rout in the midterm elections on Tuesday.

It is also a sign that the results of the election are already having an impact in Texas, where ousted Republican leaders enthusiastically embraced President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.

The directive by Mayor John Whitmire requires cops in Houston to contact ICE only if the person they stop is arrested on a charge that is subject to jailing or if ICE issues an administrative warrant.

An administrative warrant signals the individual is wanted by immigration officials.

Whitmire, a Democrat, said the city would go after immigrants “that pose a danger, not those that are going about their family business, work and education.”

“In the case of a traffic incident, you write a citation or you warn them and they go about their way,” he said.

Houston has been a recurring scene of protests against Trump’s immigration crackdown in the wake of one ICE officer fatally shooting a Mexican homebuilder and another striking a man with a car.

One of the most shocking results from the midterm elections was Democrat Gina Hinojosa ousting Republican Governor Greg Abbott, making her the first Latino governor of Texas and the first member of her party to hold the office in more than 30 years.

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