Texas Democrats are not wasting time following far-left Democrat Gina Hinojosa’s stunning win in the gubernatorial race on Tuesday, where she unseated longtime GOP governor Greg Abbott.
On Friday, Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced during a press conference that he is altering his city’s policy toward ICE by changing how Houston police officers handle immigration-related checks.
“We will change our policy regarding contact with ICE,” Whitmire said. “I do this to begin a healing process and reduce fear and anxiety across our community.”
“I also do this knowing that elections matter,” he added.
WATCH:
After Democrats swept statewide elections in Texas, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said Friday he has directed the Houston Police Department to change its policy on contact with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying the move is intended to reduce fear and anxiety in the community.🔗https://t.co/VGa4Oo0CnE
— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) November 6, 2026
Here’s more from KHOU regarding how the new policy will limit ICE activities:
According to Whitmire, the changes are intended to prevent routine encounters with Houston police from leading to immigration-related warrant checks unless a person is being charged with a new jail offense.
Diaz explained that the new policy means officers will no longer contact ICE solely because someone has an administrative immigration warrant if that person is not being arrested.
For example, if an officer pulls someone over for a minor traffic violation and issues a citation, that person can go about their day without HPD contacting ICE, even if an administrative ICE warrant exists.
However, officers will still contact ICE if someone is arrested for a jail offense and also has an administrative ICE warrant.
This is just the first step in Texas Democrats’ efforts to throw the door back open for illegal immigrants to flood into the Lone Star State.
As Fox News notes, Hinojosa has called on Abbott to end state and local cooperation with ICE, and she can order that on day one.
Hinojosa also voted against SB 4 in 2017 as a TX state rep. The bill was essentially a sanctuary cities ban and required TX law enforcement to cooperate with ICE detainers. She then voted against another SB 4 in 2023, which made it a state crime to cross Texas illegally.
It’s going to be a long four years for the 30 million-plus residents in this former GOP stronghold.
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