Houston City Council members push to codify ICE order into city ordinance

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Three Houston City Council members are pushing to turn Mayor John Whitmire's executive order limiting the Houston Police Department's cooperation with ICE into a city ordinance.

PREVIOUS REPORT: Houston mayor signs order to limit cooperation with ICE, says 'elections matter' after Democrats win

Whitmire announced Friday that he had signed an executive order directing HPD to contact ICE only if a suspect has an active criminal warrant or has been arrested for a new criminal offense that could result in jail time.

In the days since, council members Alejandra Salinas, Edward Pollard and Tiffany Thomas have come together to say they want that executive order to become a city ordinance.

Pollard said making it such would ensure the policy remains the same moving forward.

“This is the exact same language (as the executive order)," said Pollard. "Putting it in ordinance form means that no other administration in the future would be able to change it."

Salinas said their proposed amendment would require additional transparency related to public reporting of HPD's interactions with ICE.

"This should be a no-brainer for this administration and every council member that voted the right time, the first time, to limit our cooperation with ICE," Salinas said.

In a statement to ABC13, the Mayor's Office said in part: "Mayor Whitmire stands by his executive order as the City's approach to addressing these challenges. He believes that amending the ordinance to include additional provisions would put the City of Houston at even greater risk of violating state law."

At Tuesday's press conference, the council members said if the executive order does not violate state law, their proposed ordinance should not either.

The council members said their proposal must undergo legal review before it can go up for a vote in council, which Salinas said could happen in a matter of weeks.