Photo: RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP / Getty Images
But Mayor John Whitmire decided to postpone it until Wednesday, hoping to get support from the progressive Democrats who passed it. In a statement, Whitmire said:
“After discussions with the Governor’s office, our deadline to respond to the state’s freeze on public safety grant funding has been moved from Monday, April 20, to Wednesday, April 22. Therefore, the Special Called Houston City Council meeting has been postponed until Wednesday, April 22, to give my administration additional time to continue productive discussions with the Governor’s office, City Council members, law enforcement, and the community.
This strikes a balance to protect our people, essential services, and our finances.
"As I said earlier, this is a crisis. We have already lost state grant funding, which affects the Houston Police and Fire Departments, public safety services across our city, preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the Department of Homeland Security. Our public safety departments rely on a combination of local, state, and federal resources to operate effectively.
We are making significant progress through constructive conversations.”
What's on the line is simple. If the ordinance it not repealed, the city is going to lose $110 million in public safety grants, that are given at the governor's discretion. Period. But apparently, the Houston Democrats don't care, doubling down on their support for illegals.
"They really want to take this to the mat, and see how far they can push it" said Charles Blain, president of Urban Reform, "They want to fight it in court, they want to fight it in any way that they can."
But speaking at an event on Thursday in Crosby, Governor Abbott did not mince any words. Repeal the ordinance, or suffer the consequences.
"Under that law, Houston will have to find elsewhere to fully fund police. The law that I signed specifically says that grants do not count to a city's fully funding the police and does not eliminate their need to come up with money to fully fund the police," Abbott said. "So they're going to be out $110 million, and after that, they're still going to have to find ways to fully fund the police in Houston like they are today, otherwise they are going to be in violation of another law in the state of Texas."
Led by newly elected progressive, Alejandra Salinas, the Dems want to use lawfare, and could request a local leftist judge to issue a temporary restraining order to try and block the move. But the mayor says it's too late, the funds have already been frozen.
"While they (Democrats) might win in Harris County district court, after it gets out of that they're probably going to lose" Blain told KTRH, "And so I think mayor Whitmire has just accepted that, whereas some of the others on City Council are unwilling to accept that, and want to continue to fight it."
The countdown is on until Wednesday.
Meantime, Harris County Commissioners met to discuss an anti-ICE policy themselves. However, the only thing it passed was the creation of an 'Immigrant and Refugee Commission' after the Governor doubled down on his threat to defund Houston during an appearance in Crosby on Thursday