Ordinance Proposed To Regulate City Of Houston Cooperation With ICE-Use Fight To Organize Ourselves

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​A "Proposition A" motion, meaning it can be brought to Houston City Council with the signatures of three councilmembers, about how the City of Houston interacts with ICE has been advanced. 

I say City of Houston rather than HPD because we too often refer to the police as something separate from the city or from other city departments. The police work for us and are subordinate to civilian authority. 

This effort was announced at press conference yesterday, 3/19, at Houston City Council. I went to the press conference and above you see a picture.

Here is a detailed story on the proposal from NPR KUHF 88.7.

The three councilmembers who signed the ordinance are Alejandra Salinas, Ed Pollard & Abbie Kamin. 

According to Councilmember Salinas, here is what the ordinance would do: 

• HPD won't be required to contact ICE for civil administrative warrants
• Traffic stops end when their lawful purpose ends — not when ICE arrives
• Transparency reports on HPD's contact with ICE

What is not listed here is ending non-safety traffic stops. Advocacy on that issue has involved the RISE Houston Coalition. There has been extensive discussion about that issue at council & I've written about it for the Houston Democracy Project. These stops disproportionally impact Black Houstonians. We cannot let up pressing on these stops.

We must also aggressively pursue this proposed ordinance. We must minimize the harm ICE does in our city and protect our rights from the civil liberties abuses of ICE. Houston City Council has been awful in acknowledging threats to democracy and freedom. 

This ordinance is important because:

1. The policy changes it would enact.
2. It is a major challenge to Mayor Whitmire from a council that rarely challenges him. He needs to be challenged on many fronts. 
3. It gives us opportunity to further organize ourselves. Voting is not going to be enough and the conventional political process at City Hall is not going to be enough. 

Councilmember Salinas made a 72 second Facebook video on what council does and how to speak at council. 

Take Ms. Salinas up on the suggestion to speak at council. She is asking for many speakers at the Tuesday,  March 31 evening public comment session. You can sign up here. 

Pack Houston City Hall for public comment sessions and contact members of council. (Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum is the #2 official in Houston and as such can fairly be viewed as a citywide official. On her city website profile, it says she is "..a visionary leader shaping the city's future." All righty. No matter where you live in Houston, give the Mayor Pro Tem a call/e-mail.) 

The next action is when you organize it. The First Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. Voting is not going to be enough. The conventional political process at city hall and in the legislative chamber is not going to be enough. The work ahead is ours. Take note of who is with you in the fight for this ordinance and make connections for the many challenges ahead. 

​Public comment time at Houston City Council is each Tuesday at 2 PM with the exception once each month when it is at 5:00 PM. Here is how you can speak at Council and here is how to contact your councilmember.  The earlier before the session you sign up, the higher up on the speaker's list you'll be. You must register to speak by 3 PM the day before. 

The agenda session to conduct Council business is each Wednesday at 9 AM. The agenda is posted in advance. Council can be watched live on HTV Houston Television and past sessions are available at any time on the HTV feed on Facebook. Here is the link to past sessions of Council. Here are maps of Council districts so you can see who represents you. 

Here is contact information for Mayor Whitmire & Council--

Mayor Whitmire—832-393-1000 [email protected] 

Democrats: 
At-Large-Alejandra Salinas 832-393-3012  [email protected]
At-Large-Sallie Alcorn 832-393-3017  [email protected]
District B-Tarsha Jackson 832-393-3009  [email protected]
District C-Abbie Kamin 832-393-3004  [email protected]
District D-Carolyn Evans-Shabazz 832-393-3001 [email protected]
District F-Tiffany Thomas 832-393-3002  [email protected]
District H-Mario Castillo 832-393-3002  [email protected]
District I-Joaquin Martinez 832-393-3011 [email protected]
District J-Edward Pollard 832-393-3015  [email protected]
District K-Martha Castex-Tatum 832-393-3016  [email protected]

Republicans: 
At-Large-Julian Ramirez 832-393-3014 [email protected]
At-Large-Willie Davis 832-393-3013 [email protected] 
At-Large-Twila Carter 832-393-3005 [email protected]
District A-Amy Peck 832-393-3010 [email protected]
District E-Fred Flickinger 832-393-3008 [email protected] 
District G-Mary Nan Huffman 832-393-3007 [email protected] ​​​

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