Abbott's $110 Million ICE Threat Backfires After Texas Flips Blue, Houston Mayor Declares 'Elections Matter'

Seven months after Greg Abbott threatened to strip Houston of £83million ($110million) in public safety grants, the city has formally curbed day‑to‑day cooperation with US immigration agents, just as the governor prepares to leave office.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire on Friday signed an executive order instructing police not to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over non‑violent offences. 'Elections matter,' he said, days after Democrat Gina Hinojosa unseated Abbott in a result that flipped Texas blue for the first time in decades.

Opponents online accused the city of prioritising immigrants over citizens.

'Elections Matter' as Policy Shifts

Whitmire signed the two‑page order on Friday 6 November, according to the Associated Press. Police will still contact ICE in certain cases involving people arrested on jailable charges and those with administrative immigration warrants, but not over routine non‑violent encounters.

'Elections matter,' Whitmire said, pointing to Democratic wins that handed the party control of Congress and the Texas governor's office.

He called the policy 'a new model' that other Texas cities could follow. The city would target immigrants 'that pose a danger, not those that are going about their family business, work and education', he said, ABC13 reported. For a minor traffic incident, officers would issue a citation or a warning with no ICE contact, which he said 'reduces the fear and anxiety'.

'I have signed an executive order directing HPD to no longer contact ICE for nonviolent offences, helping reduce fear in our communities,' the mayor's office posted on X, thanking Police Chief Noe Diaz. The post had drawn more than 1.4million views by Saturday.

Abbott's $110 Million Threat

Houston tried something similar in April, before reconsidering under state pressure. On 8 April, the city council voted 12 to 5 for an ordinance barring officers from detaining people or extending traffic stops over civil immigration warrants, KEDT reported.

Abbott's office responded five days later with a letter threatening to terminate £83million ($110million) in public safety grants unless the city agreed not to enforce the ordinance and moved to repeal it.

Whitmire called it 'a crisis situation', warning the loss would hit police, fire services and World Cup preparations. Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation.

Journalist Jennie Taer said Houston police were 'forced to work with ICE' after the threat. With Hinojosa taking control of the state, she wrote, police will let undocumented immigrants without 'a jail worthy offense' go 'without notifying ICE', in a post viewed nearly 290,000 times.

Abbott remains governor until Hinojosa is sworn in on 19 January, leaving the grants question open for now.

A City on Edge Over Enforcement

The order follows months of anger over immigration enforcement in Houston. An ICE officer fatally shot Mexican homebuilder Lorenzo Salgado Araujo this summer in disputed circumstances.

Last week, a grand jury indicted ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales for aggravated assault, with prosecutors alleging he deliberately drove into Miguel Parra Hernandez and broke his leg, the AP reported. ICE says Parra Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle.

ICE relies heavily on local police and has signed about 2,600 agreements, many in Texas, deputising state and local agencies for immigration enforcement, according to the AP.

Whitmire said he does not fear retaliation from Washington. Critics online were scathing. 'So reduce the fear for illegals, but fuck the citizens,' one top reply to the mayor's post read.