Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced Thursday that he’s scrapping the special city council meeting he had scheduled for Friday to consider repealing the city's new policy limiting the Houston Police Department's involvement in federal immigration law enforcement.
The recently passed ordinance prompted a threat by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to terminate more than $110 million in public safety grants for the city. In a statement Thursday, Whitmire said Abbott's office has extended its deadline for repealing the ordinance from Monday, April 20, until Wednesday, April 22.
"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," Whitmire said.
Shortly after Whitmire’s announcement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he had filed a lawsuit against the city and some of its elected officials over its ordinance. Paxton alleges the ordinance violates Senate Bill 4, passed during the 2017 Legislative Session.
“Under SB 4, a local entity such as the City of Houston may not adopt, enforce, or endorse a policy that prohibits or materially limits the enforcement of federal immigration laws,” Paxton said in a release announcing the lawsuit. “However, Houston adopted a city ordinance that blatantly violates this law.”
Last Wednesday, the city council approved — in a 12-5 vote with Whitmire’s support — anew policyintended to limit the coordination between the city’s police department and U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Spearheaded by council members Alejandra Salinas, Edward Pollard and Abbie Kamin, the new policy prohibits officers from detaining people or lengthening traffic stops due to civil immigration warrants issued by ICE.
On Monday, Abbottthreatened to pull more than $110 million in public safety grantsto the city of Houston if the ordinance is not repealed.
Whitmire called the potential loss of funding a "crisis situation" and quickly began working to repeal the policy.
If the special meeting had taken place Friday, Whitmire would have needed a two-thirds majority vote on the city council in order to advance a repeal item. During the regular council meeting on Wednesday, the item will need only a simple majority in order to pass.
Before canceling Friday’s meeting, Whitmire's administration placed an item on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting "relating to Law Enforcement Field Encounters and Interactions with Federal Immigration Authorities."
Nancy Sims, a political analyst at the University of Houston, said Whitmire likely would not have had enough votes to repeal the ordinance by Friday.
“So, by extending the deadline, it gives the mayor more time to work with city council members to find a viable solution,” she said. “And so, it makes sense that he’d postpone it to give himself and council members more time.”
Houston Public Media's Dominic Anthony Walsh contributed to this report.
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