Houston's mayor has ordered the city's police department to limit cooperation with federal immigration officers, days after Democrats won statewide races in Texas.

Mayor John Whitmire signed the executive order on Friday, 6 November. Under it, Houston police may contact US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) about a person only if that person is already being arrested and charged with an offence carrying possible jail time, and there is a matching ICE administrative warrant.

What changes on the street

Routine encounters will no longer trigger an immigration referral. If officers stop a motorist for a minor traffic offence and issue a citation, that person will simply receive the citation and go about their day, Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz said.

"HPD will no longer contact ICE if they have an administrative warrant and they are not arrested," Diaz said. Being suspected of being subject to immigration enforcement is not, by itself, a reason to contact ICE, extend a detention, or hold a person in custody, the order states.

Why now

Whitmire said he acted after consulting the state's newly elected leadership. "Elections matter," he said, adding that the change was about "reducing fear and anxiety, not just within certain communities, but across all of Houston."

In April, Houston's City Council passed an ordinance limiting how long officers could hold people while waiting for ICE. Then-governor Greg Abbott threatened to withdraw about 110 million dollars in public safety grants if the city did not repeal it, and the policy was later revised to restore wider cooperation.

That backdrop changed on Tuesday, when Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Abbott for Texas governor and Democrat James Talarico beat Attorney General Ken Paxton for a US Senate seat. Immigrant advocates at FIEL Houston welcomed the order, saying their community could now "breathe easier".

**Sources:** [Reuters](https://985theriver.com/2026/11/06/houston-mayor-curtails-police-cooperation-with-ice-saying-elections-matter/) | [USA Today](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/11/06/houston-reduces-police-cooperation-with-ice-after-democrats-flip-texas/92651144007/)