Houston changes ordinance limiting cooperation with ICE after pressure from governor

HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston city ordinance that limited police officers’ cooperation with federal immigration agents was amended on Wednesday after Texas’ governor threatened to take away millions of dollars in public safety grants.

Houston, as well as Austin and Dallas — three of the state's biggest cities and Democratic strongholds — are being confronted by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott with threats of losing public safety dollars over policies that dictate how law enforcement interacts with federal immigration authorities. The three cities are being threatened with the loss of about $200 million in public safety funding, including tens of millions expected to cover security at World Cup matches this summer in Dallas and Houston.

Two weeks ago, Houston City Council passed the ordinance, which eliminated a requirement that Houston police officers wait 30 minutes for agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pick up someone with a nonjudicial administrative warrant. If ICE agents didn't show up in time, police officers took a detained person's information and then released them.

But Abbott warned city officials that the new ordinance and its limitation on cooperating with ICE agents violated the terms of $110 million in state grants Houston had received for police and security during the World Cup games the city is hosting in June.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had also filed a lawsuit against Mayor John Whitmire and members of the city council over the ordinance, accusing them of violating a 2017 state law that prevents cities from adopting policies that limit the enforcement of immigration laws and which also banned “sanctuary city” policies in the state. There is no strict definition for sanctuary policies or sanctuary cities, but the terms generally describe limited cooperation with ICE.

After more than two hours of discussion during its weekly meeting, Houston City Council voted 13-4 to make changes to the ordinance. Whitmire said he had consulted with Abbott’s office about making changes that would prevent Houston from losing its funding.

The amended ordinance deletes language that highlighted that administrative warrants — versus warrants signed by a judge — that ICE agents use to take individuals into custody are not enough for officers to arrest or detain an individual.

“We have no alternative for Houston to survive, prepare for (the World Cup), patrol these neighborhoods,” Whitmire said. “We’ve got to have today the restoration of the $114 million.”

Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Abbott, said the governor expects any policy Houston police adopt has to comply with the city's certification that it will fully cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security.

“This vote is a step in the right direction after Houston leaders put public safety at risk with reckless policies that undermined law enforcement,” Mahaleris said in a statement.

Council member Abbie Kamin, one of three members who had pushed for the ordinance, voted against amending it, saying that doing so was giving in to bullying tactics from state leaders.

“If we rollover now to a bully, what will he come for next?” Kamin said.

Council members Edward Pollard and Alejandra Salinas, who also pushed for the ordinance, said they remained hopeful the changes approved Wednesday would not violate individuals' constitutional rights and wouldn't result in people being held on nonjudicial warrants.

Nikki Luellen, an advocate for criminal justice reform for the ACLU of Texas, called the amended ordinance “a greenlight for deeper collaboration between ICE and the Houston Police Department.”

Martha Castex-Tatum was one of several council members who had supported the ordinance but voted in favor of amending it in order to protect the city's finances.

“For some people, this may feel like surrender. It’s not. It’s real stewardship,” Castex-Tatum said.

Dallas officials have said they are committed to ensuring public safety and would respond to Abbott’s threat by Thursday.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a moderate Democrat, said the local policy complies with state law. He said Abbott’s threat to cut nearly $3 million in Austin would cut trauma aid for police officers and sexual assault victims.

“We don’t have the time and will not play into this political theater,” said Watson.

Austin officials have since indicated they could try to negotiate with Abbott.

The debate in Houston and other Texas cities comes amid the federal government’s aggressive enforcement of immigration laws. Whitmire and other local leaders in many of Texas’ left-leaning urban areas have tried to not get the federal government’s attention amid the aggressive immigration crackdown by President Donald Trump’s administration.

__

Associated Press writer Jim Vertuno in Austin contributed to this report.

__

Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://x.com/juanlozano70

Members of the public listen during a City Council meeting considering whether to repeal a newly approved proposal limiting cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at City Hall, in Houston, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Houston Mayor John Whitmire speaks during a City Council meeting considering whether to repeal a newly approved proposal limiting cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at City Hall, in Houston, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Houston Mayor John Whitmire listens to a speaker during a City Council meeting considering whether to repeal a newly approved proposal limiting cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at City Hall, in Houston, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via AP)

FILE - Students stage a walkout in protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in schools and mass deportations, Feb. 6, 2025, at Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center High School in Houston. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

SAN JUAN TEOTIHUACAN, Mexico (AP) — Officers with bomb-sniffing dogs circled cars and searched bags of tourists filing into historic pyramids outside of Mexico City on Wednesday just days after a man opened fire on tourists.

The heightened surveillance was part of a promise by Mexican authorities following the tragedy to beef up security at touristic and archaeological sites across Mexico, less than two months before the country hosts the FIFA World Cup jointly with United States and Canada.

The Monday shooting, carried out by a lone gunman on top of one of the Teotihuacan pyramids — a UNESCO Heritage Site and one of Mexico's most frequented tourist attractions — killed one Canadian tourist and injured a dozen more.

It also set off a flurry of questions the next morning by reporters to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum about what security protocols her government was taking ahead of the sports competition.

About an hour from Mexico City, Teotihuacan was slated to be a key site for visitors during the festivities. Just days before the shooting, local lawmakers even pushed forward an initiative to revive a nighttime interactive light show projected on the pyramids for World Cup visitors, which was previous suspended at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The unexpected act of violence came as Sheinbaum's government has gone to great lengths to project an image of safety ahead of the soccer competition, following a surge of cartel violence February in the World Cup host city of Guadalajara.

"Events like this only further magnify the negative images that Mexico has on security issues, undermining the narrative that President Sheinbaum is trying to build that Mexico is a safe country," said Mexican security analyst David Saucedo.

Mexico’s government has sought to turn the page on the attack and reopened the pyramids on Wednesday after closing them temporarily.

That morning, tourists were already climbing up the pyramid still stained by blood to take selfies.

Among those filing into the archaeological site was 76-year-old physician Mark Diamond, who said he was saddened to see the bloodshed but that he wasn't dissuaded in seeing a site he had long hoped to visit. He noted bluntly: “I'm from Baltimore, Maryland. I'm not concerned.”

“It's presumably a deranged individual and it can happen anywhere,” he said. “In the United States, we have plenty of shootings, unfortunately.”

On Tuesday, Sheinbaum acknowledged that the archaeological site lacked security filters to prevent the attack in part, she said, because the shooting “was an isolated incident" that hasn't occurred before in such a public space.

While Mexico suffers from cartel violence, especially in strategic and rural areas, mass shootings in public spaces are rare in Mexico compared with the U.S., where it is much easier to legally obtain a gun.

She noted that the shooter appeared to be motivated by “outside influences," particularly the 1999 Columbine massacre in Colorado.

“Our obligation as a government is to take the appropriate measures to ensure that a situation like this does not happen again. But clearly, we all know — Mexicans know — that this is something that had not previously taken place,” Sheinbaum said Tuesday morning.

Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch, the face of the government's crackdown on cartels, said on Tuesday that security forces had been ordered to “immediately strengthen security" at archaeological sites and major tourist destinations across the country.

He said the government will increase the presence of Mexican National Guard, boost security checks at key sites and fortify surveillance systems to “identify and prevent any threats” against citizens and visitors.

The announcement was an effort by Mexican authorities to assuage ongoing concerns about violence in Mexico ahead of the tournament.

Sheinbaum's government has touted security successes under her leadership. Homicides have dipped sharply since she taken office to the lowest levels in a decade, government figures show. The government has also taken out a number of top capos and highlighted a dip in fentanyl seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border.

But they have hit hurdles in recent months, namely a burst a violence in Guadalajara in February, triggered by the killing of Mexico’s most powerful cartel boss. The bloodshed was met with a wave of concern by people in and outside of Mexico. Sheinbaum vowed there would be “no risk” for fans coming to the tournament and FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he had “full confidence” in Mexico as a host country. Sheinbaum later met with FIFA representatives to assess security for the World Cup matches to be played in Mexico.

Mexico’s government doubled down on security measures, which include deploying 100,000 security forces across the country, particularly concentrated in the country’s three host cities, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Officials said it would deploy more than 2,000 military vehicles, as well as dozens of air crafts and drones, and establish security perimeters around areas like stadiums and airports in key cities.

"As you can see, we are very prepared for the World Cup," Sheinbaum said in early March.

Despite the rare nature of the Monday shooting at the pyramids, the extreme act of violence reignited scrutiny by some about the government's capacity to prevent violence during the soccer tournament, and once again boosted pressures on the government.

FIFA was approached for comment about the pyramid shooting, but the soccer body typically does not address security issues and incidents that happen away from tournament venues.

Saucedo, the security analyst, said that pressures to concentrate security in host cities and tourist areas like Teotihuacan may come at the expense of other more crime-torn areas in greater need of police and military. He said the shooting was sign that “public safety agencies are overwhelmed.”

Others like Maria de Jesús Román, who traveled to see the pyramids from Guadalajara, said while the shooting “might change the perception of tourists that come to the World Cup" she said she feels safe.

“There's a lot of security, this is the safest place you could go in Mexico right now,” she said.

——

Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press photojournalist Eduardo Verdugo contributed to this report from San Juan Teotihuacán.

Forensic workers carry the body of a victim down a pyramid after authorities said a gunman opened fire, in Teotihuacan, Mexico, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

National Guard troops patrol the Teotihuacan pyramids, which remained closed a day after a gunman opened fire on tourists at the archaeological site outside Mexico City, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)