Mayor John Whitmire has said that Houston police are not helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with operations in Houston.
Whitmire revealed at Tuesday’s City Council meeting that ICE arrests reported over the weekend targeted violent illegal alien criminals, but the Houston Police Department did not participate.
“HPD has not participated in federal efforts,” said Whitmire.
Whitmire indicated that his office and police leadership were clear that HPD would focus on enforcing local and state laws without regard to the immigration status of the people they investigate.
“We’ve been very clear about that,” Whitmire said as he praised the HPD chief and said that the department clearly understood their duties.
“Let HPD do its local job and then the federal government we have no control over,” Whitmire said.
The Houston area is estimated to have a population of up to half a million illegal aliens.
Local leftist activists and legacy media are triggering reactions from the community by pushing a narrative that immigration enforcement could happen anywhere and to anyone. The reality thus far this year is that federal authorities have focused on arresting violent criminal illegal aliens in highly targeted operations.
Democrat U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia and multiple Houston City Council members are hosting “know your rights” events, including one yesterday, to teach illegal aliens what rights they can exercise if approached by ICE.
Pinned to the profile of her official congressional X account, Garcia recommends that illegal aliens avoid opening the door and avoid answering questions if they have contact with an immigration officer.
School districts across the country, including in the Houston area have clarified their policies regarding law enforcement coming to schools.
Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey reported in a recent Commissioners Court meeting that the Harris County Jail and the sheriff have a healthy working relationship with ICE and transferred 3,600 people to their custody in 2023.
Selene Rodriguez of the Texas Public Policy Foundation told Texas Scorecard, “The execution of targeted criminal arrests by ICE is not only welcome but necessary. Millions of people have poured into our nation illegally, and many have committed atrocious crimes in American communities. Finally, our federal government is working to bring safety and law and order back to America.”
“But they can’t do it by themselves,” she added. “The amount of enforcement required nationwide requires state and local cooperation, and that is what the American people overwhelmingly voted for.”
“No locality should work against law and order, particularly in the great state of Texas. If communities in New York, Chicago, and California can see the need for targeted enforcement in their states, Texas surely will not stand in the way of it at home. If you have broken the law by illegally coming to the U.S., and you continue to break U.S. laws by committing criminal acts, you do not have the right to remain in the U.S.”
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