After long denying that Houston had been cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Mayor John Whitmire has now admitted that the Houston Police Department has been cooperating with the federal agency, though he noted that it was the bare minimum.
The comments came at a conference hosted by former Kemah Mayor Bill King. During an interview with Whitmire, King mentioned a New York Times profile written last month.
In that article, Whitmire essentially said that, unlike the mayors of other big cities, such as Chicago or Los Angeles—where leaders constantly challenge Trump and his policies, especially on immigration—he prefers to keep a lower profile and focus on his job as mayor. Whitmire noted, “I don’t respond to Trump — that could be counterproductive. Do I have personal views? Sure, and they’re strong, but why do you want to challenge him?”
On Saturday, Whitmire highlighted this position yet again, stating a certain level of cooperation with the administration was crucial to keeping Houston from becoming a military zone. “I’m not going to say that we’re not cooperating with ICE, because that’s frankly not true,” he said. He continued by pointing out that, even if he tried to get ICE out of Houston’s public spaces, the result would likely be 500 more officers from the Trump administration in response.
During Wednesday’s city council meeting, Whitmire clarified and defended his and HPD’s position on their cooperation with ICE. After Whitmire’s Saturday statement, Councilman Mario Castillo and council candidate Alejandra Salinas went on social media to criticize the cooperation and call for greater transparency.
Castillo, District H City Councilman, discussed Houston’s diversity, the importance of transparency, the need to protect the community, and the fact that no family should live in fear of local law enforcement. He even said, “Until I have assurances that my council dollars aren’t supporting HPD and ICE coordination, I’m pausing Council District Service Fund requests for HPD overtime allocation.”
Alejandra Salinas, who has entered a runoff election for Houston City Council At Large Position 4, referenced Whitmire’s Saturday statements and said, “This is wrong. I am profoundly disappointed in the lack of transparency by the administration. One of my relatives, a U.S. citizen, was wrongly detained by ICE. He is OK, but the unlawful actions of ICE are not. Our city should not enable wrongful actors.”
During Wednesday’s city council meeting, Whitmire described the backlash as “alarming people unnecessarily” and “politicizing a very emotional issue.” He reiterated that HPD is cooperating with ICE only to a minimal degree and specified that during traffic stops or during sting operations at clubs, individuals are not asked about their immigration status. He also noted that cooperation is limited to alerting authorities only if there is an active warrant out for an individual.
Whitmire said that he is allowed to disagree with the principles of the presidential administration without refusing to submit individuals with active warrants. He also condemned the inflamed rhetoric from his fellow politicians, noting, “What’s the incentive to bad mouth HPD with such a sensitive issue, or even me? It’s not harming HPD. They’re doing great … The public opinion is high. It’s not harming me. I’m doing fine. You’re harming the community that we’re all committed to serve and comfort.”
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