After the Midterms, Houston's HPD-ICE Policy Is Under Pressure: 88 ICE Contacts in One Quarter, and a Call to Reform From City Hall
Voters left their stickers at a mural in the East End. Then the city's controller and a council member aimed at the same target: HPD's working relationship with ICE, which the department's own quarterly report puts at 88 immigration-related contacts from July through September - 17 people transferred, and traffic stops that held Houstonians an average of 46 minutes.
In the days after Tuesday's midterm elections, hundreds of Houston voters made their way to a mural in the East End and left their 'I Voted' stickers on it - a tribute to Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the man shot and killed by federal immigration agents on Canal Street in July. The 'Somos Lorenzo' mural became a gathering point for voters who said they cast their ballots with Houston's immigrant community in mind, and the election's results - a Democratic governor-elect, a flipped Senate seat, gains along the Rio Grande Valley - have turned that sentiment into a policy push at City Hall aimed at the Houston Police Department's relationship with ICE.
City Controller Chris Hollins told KPRC 2 he hopes that relationship changes under new leadership, including Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa. 'We are spending taxpayer dollars right now to aid and abate the criminal practices of this organization. They are doing things that are hurting the Houston economy,' Hollins said, adding that the city is losing millions of dollars due to a decline in immigrant labor. Council Member Alejandra Salinas, who holds an at-large seat, issued a statement calling on HPD Chief Diaz and the administration to act: the latest quarterly report, she said, 'again appears to show HPD unnecessarily contacting ICE following calls for service while also holding Houstonians far past reasonable time limits during traffic stops,' and she called for reforms 'to better protect victims, rebuild trust, and keep HPD focused on solving serious crimes.'
The numbers behind the argument are HPD's own. The department's latest quarterly immigration report, covering July through September, shows 88 total immigration-related ICE contacts. Of those, 17 people were transferred to ICE and 58 were released on scene - the remaining contacts are not characterized in the coverage of the report read this cycle. The report also shows HPD's average traffic-stop detention time rose to 46 minutes by September, the figure Salinas cited.
For the family whose name is on the mural, the politics are personal. 'Ever since what happened to my dad I've looked a little bit more and more - this doesn't happen again, make sure immigrants' lives are safe. With HPD's collaboration with ICE that has always been a worry, now I'm hopeful,' said Ronaldo Salgado, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's son. Voters at the mural put it more simply. 'As a Latina I just feel like, we finally did it, we finally flipped Texas, and today I'm very proud to be a Texan,' said Lillian Ayala, who said her vote was cast on behalf of immigrants who cannot vote. No policy change has been announced by HPD or the mayor's office; what changed this week is who is asking, and how loudly.
