Houston city leaders on Wednesday altered a recently adopted ordinance that had restricted the local police department from assisting federal immigration authorities, after the Texas governor threatened to cut $114 million in state public safety funds. The adjustment comes with major international sporting events set to take place in the region this summer.
The original ordinance, approved earlier this month, had prevented police in Houston - the largest city in Texas and the fourth most populous in the United States - from detaining persons who are the subject of deportation warrants issued by federal authorities.
The Houston city council approved the amendment by a 13-4 vote, according to the office of Democratic Mayor John Whitmire. The mayoral office said the amendment both protects the $114 million in state funding and safeguards people’s rights against unreasonable detention.
Officials noted the timing of the change as the 2026 soccer World Cup approaches; the tournament is scheduled to begin on June 11 and will be held across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Among the revisions to the ordinance was the removal of an explicit ban on the practice of allowing federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel a 30-minute period to pick up individuals identified in deportation warrants. The amendment also deleted a passage that described ICE’s administrative warrants as "not reviewed by a neutral magistrate or judge and are not probable cause for a criminal arrest," according to reporting.
A spokesperson for Republican Governor Greg Abbott told the Texas Tribune that the amendment approval was "a step in the right direction."
The legal dispute over the ordinance has already moved into the courts. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Democratic mayor and members of the city council challenging the ordinance.
Civil rights organizations immediately criticized the council’s decision to alter the measure. Caro Rivera Nelson, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said, "Houston city council caved to the governor’s threats and intimidation." She added that "The effective repeal of Proposition A is a stain on our state," referencing the ordinance.
The role of ICE has been central to broader debates over federal immigration enforcement. The agency has been portrayed as the face of a hardline immigration crackdown and deportation push under the administration of Republican President Donald Trump. Rights groups have urged caution, saying the enforcement campaign has led to alleged violations of free speech and due process and has created an unsafe environment, particularly for minority communities. The president has defended the actions as necessary to bolster domestic security and reduce illegal immigration.
As Houston moves forward with the amended ordinance, the competing priorities of maintaining public safety funding, addressing legal challenges, and responding to civil liberties concerns remain unresolved and may continue to play out in both legal and political arenas.