Photo: iStock Editorial
A proposal to further limit contact between HPD and ICE being pushed by three radical left member of Houston City Council will be voted on in a session on Wednesday April 8th.
Right now, HPD officers have to give ICE 30 minutes to come pick up an illegal alien they encounter with an ICE warrant. That rule could be completely eliminated by a new proposal that three members of City Council are trying to force onto the agenda.
Council Members Abbie Kamin, Edward Pollard, and Alejandra Salinas are working to eliminate the 30-minute window requirement, as well as require HPD to create reports about its cooperation with ICE.
An earlier version of the proposal also removed HPD’s requirement to call ICE upon discovery of an illegal alien with an ICE warrant altogether, leaving it up to the officer’s discretion. But it was removed by city attorneys over concerns that it could violate state law.
Kamin, who represents Houston’s District C, says she disagrees with that part of the proposal being removed. “Officers have discretion every single day in a range of different examples,” she said. She also says other jurisdictions in the state have enacted similar policies.
The proposal is being pushed thanks to a rule that allows any three council members to add an item to the council’s agenda—something that is typically done by the mayor. Even the Houston Chronicle has indicated that this move by Kamin, Pollard, and Salinas could sidestep his authority.
When asked about that, Kamin said: “I can’t speak to that. We are focused on public safety in our community.”
Other members of City Council did seem to have similar concerns, however. District A’s Amy Peck pointed out that City Council setting HPD policy isn’t exactly business as usual. “This is not typical,” she said. “This is something that usually would be set through HPD’s policy, through the mayor, and through the police chief.”
Peck also said she didn’t think there was anything wrong with HPD’s current policy of just giving ICE agents a 30-minute window to pick up those with ICE warrants. “HPD was still executing warrants as we would with any department in our jurisdiction, but being fair with it as well,” she said.
Former District G Councilman Greg Travis also echoed concerns about this proposition undermining the mayor, saying: “Whitmire is a rational guy, and he wouldn’t allow this to happen. It is an assault against his authority. It’s an assault against the chain of command authority.”
Travis went on to say that this is exactly why Proposition A—the rule that allows three council members to adjust the council agenda—should be repealed.