HOUSTON – The City of Houston is expecting $114 million in public safety funding to be restored after the Houston Police Department signed off on a revised immigration enforcement ordinance.
The updated policy gives officers more discretion.
Under the new ordinance, when an officer pulls someone over and discovers that person is undocumented with a civil immigration warrant, the officer can decide how long to wait for federal agents, like ICE, to take custody.
That marks a shift from the previous ordinance, which made it clear officers were not required to wait at all. The policy applies only to civil immigration warrants -not criminal warrants.
The funding in question is used for Houston police overtime, as well as programs targeting human trafficking and DWI enforcement. Texas Governor Greg Abbott froze the money earlier, saying he wanted changes to the ordinance. He also said the funds would be released once law enforcement signed off which has now happened.
But questions remain about what the changes mean in practice, especially for undocumented individuals.
Houston City Council passed the amended ordinance, but key players have offered differing interpretations of how it should be applied.
KPRC 2 reporter Re’Chelle Turner breaks down the new policy. She spoke to the Houston Police Officer’s Union about the changes.
Here’s how it works:
If someone is pulled over and only has an ICE administrative (civil) warrant, officers will contact federal authorities to ask if they want to take custody.
“If you’re only being detained for the administrative warrant… we’re going to contact ICE and ask if they want this person,” said Ray Hunt, executive director of the Houston Police Officers’ Union. “If ICE says it’s going to take five hours, we’re not waiting five hours. We’re going to wait a reasonable amount of time.”
What qualifies as “reasonable” depends on the situation.
“I can tell you five minutes is not reasonable,” Hunt said. “If someone is driving across Houston in rush hour, that’s different than 3 a.m. when they’re nearby. That’s why a supervisor now has to respond and determine what’s reasonable.”
Another key point: this policy applies to everyone — not just undocumented individuals.
“This applies to every traffic stop,” Hunt said. “We run checks through national and state databases. If there’s a warrant — whether from ICE, DPS, or another state — we verify it and ask what that agency wants done.”
Houston police also emphasize that officers do not ask about immigration status.
“You’re only in the database if you’ve had prior interaction with ICE — like receiving a notice to appear or a deportation order,” Hunt said. “If you’ve never had that contact, you’re not in the system.”
Still, concerns remain.
Not all warrants are the same, and ICE administrative warrants are civil — not criminal. But they can still appear during routine checks.
Officers may temporarily detain someone while verifying that information with federal agents, but only for what’s considered a “reasonable” amount of time — a standard that is not clearly defined.
Immigration attorney Raed Gonzalez says that ambiguity could lead to problems.
“Individuals can be flagged by mistake, or databases may not be updated,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve seen cases where someone is a legal permanent resident but was still detained for hours because records were wrong. It took time to verify their status before they were released.”
Now that the revised policy is in place, Houston police officers will begin receiving guidance on how to implement the new ordinance in the field.