{"id":968108,"date":"2026-07-30T02:26:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T02:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/968108\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T02:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T02:26:25","slug":"what-houston-can-and-cant-do-about-ice-enforcement-in-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/968108\/","title":{"rendered":"What Houston can and can\u2019t do about ICE enforcement in the city"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\"><strong>HOUSTON<\/strong> \u2013 Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego was released from the Montgomery ICE processing center on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">On July 7, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by an ICE agent while on his way to work in the Magnolia Park neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Rojas Pliego witnessed the shooting from inside a van.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\"><b>What the city can, can\u2019t do<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">KPRC 2 asked Houston Mayor John Whitmire directly what options Houston leaders have to protect undocumented immigrants with no criminal record from being detained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cWell, most objective individuals know that it is a federal program. We have state laws that require us to follow Senate Bill 4,\u201d Whitmire said. \u201cSo the law requires HPD to at least let ICE know they have someone with a warrant. More times than not, they are released.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 etvbxt font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">At-Large Council Member Alejandra Salinas said there is one component the City of Houston can control, and that is the extent of HPD\u2019s interaction with ICE. Salinas said she wants to ensure Houston police is not interacting more with ICE than it is legally obligated to. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cWhile I wish in my heart that we could control the actions of a federal agency, we are very limited in our ability as a local government to do so,\u201d Salinas said. \u201cWhat we can do is control how our resources and our police department is facilitating ICE operations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Newly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/detain\/detention-management#stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">released data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> shows the number of detentions made by federal agents in recent months like June spiked \u2014 including arrests of individuals with no criminal record. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\"><b>Ordinance under pressure<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Back in April, a Houston ordinance restricting how police can cooperate with ICE went into effect. It was quickly amended, however, after Governor Greg Abbott warned that $114 million in public safety funding could be at risk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Of that amount, $64 million was tied to FIFA World Cup security. Now that the tournament has concluded, the question remains whether city council will revisit the ordinance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cWe have to decide as a council, how much is too much? How many events need to occur until we decide that we are going to take a stand against ice,\u201d said Salinas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">When KPRC 2 asked District A Council Member Amy Peck whether public pressure might prompt another look at the ordinance, Peck drew a clear line.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 etvbxt font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cI don\u2019t want HPD to be ICE, and I don\u2019t think anyone really does,\u201d Peck said. \u201cHPD has a job that they have to do, and with the limited resources, I want to make sure they are doing those public safety components \u2014 but we also have public obligations when it comes to warrants, whether that is ICE or other public agency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Whitmire also made clear he wants to see changes in how ICE operates on Houston streets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cIt is frustrating. I want changes with ICE. I want their masks off, get marked vehicles, and they have to get back to getting the worst of the worst criminals,\u201d Whitmire said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">When asked what residents and elected officials can do, Whitmire pointed to political advocacy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cYou speak out, as I\u2019m doing right now. Support our congressional delegation, U.S. senators \u2014 so whether it be conducted by Congress or other restrictions,\u201d Whitmire said.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego was released from the Montgomery ICE processing center on Wednesday. On July&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":968109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[4345,5410,409,16301,358,3187],"class_list":["post-968108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-ice","tag-immigration","tag-john-whitmire","tag-texas","tag-tx"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117006564670244884","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=968108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/968109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=968108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=968108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=968108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}