THE MORNING RANT: State of Texas Cutting off Funds to Houston after it Revives Sanctuary City Policies

Red states do not have to tolerate their blue cities operating in a state of rebellion. Governor Greg Abbott of Texas deserves praise for imposing punitive consequences on the city of Houston for deciding to defy state law regarding cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

To help criminal non-citizens avoid being deported, the Houston City Council recently passed an ordinance that prohibits its police from holding a person with an immigration warrant if that person is involved in a police action. This reverses the previous Houston policy which sought to provide a bare minimum level of compliance with federal immigration law. Previously, if police interacted with a person with an immigration warrant, ICE would be called and was given 30 minutes to arrive and take custody. This new policy instructs police to release the person without even giving ICE a chance to arrive.

“Houston City Council Revives Sanctuary Policies for Illegal Aliens” [Texas Scorecard – 4/08/2026]

Houston City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday redefining the boundaries of its police department’s interactions with federal immigration authorities, a move that critics are calling a de facto sanctuary city policy in violation of state law. Approved in a 12-5 vote, the ordinance eliminates the previous requirement that Houston Police Department officers hold individuals up to 30 minutes to allow ICE agents time to respond to the scene. Under the new policy, a routine stop ends when the original lawful reason for the stop ends.

After voting in favor of Houston’s new sanctuary city policies, Houston’s mayor, John Whitmire, prevaricated that “I’ve always been clear: Houston follows local and state law. We are not ICE, and we do not enforce federal immigration law. Today, I joined a majority of City Council to pass a sensitive ordinance on immigration procedures.”

In an act of amazing political cowardice, Houston Mayor John Whitmire voted for the new ordinance, out of fear of the Democrats’ far-left base, but then he immediately started advocating to reverse the ordinance he just voted for because of its consequences, which puts Whitmire in a civil and criminal bind for defying state law.

In 2017, the state of Texas passed “Senate Bill 4” into law. This law requires local officials to comply with federal immigration authorities and to honor federal detainer requests from ICE. It also provides for civil and criminal penalties for officials who violate this law, including their removal from office and fines of up to $25,000 per day for rogue officials.

Greg Abbott moved swiftly to put down the insurrection in Houston, advising that the state was cutting off funding that would cripple the city. On April 13 the governor sent a letter to Whitmire advising him that his actions constituted a breach of Whitmire’s certification under the laws of the state, and that revocation of $110 million of grants from the state to the city must be repaid if the city remains in defiance of the law.

That got Whitmire’s attention. The mayor quickly released a statement stating that, “This is a crisis situation. The potential loss of state funding poses real challenges for the Houston Police and Fire Departments and will impact public safety services across our city.” Despite having voted for the ordinance himself, Whitmire pointed his finger at fellow council members, stating, “I repeatedly warned the ordinance sponsors, Council Members Salinas, Kamin, and Pollard about the legal and financial risks associated with this approach.”

The city of Houston is on the clock to repeal their ordinance. I kind of hope they don’t. I’m ready for the state of Texas to reel in rebellious, pro-crime municipalities. De-funding rogue cities is a nice start, but I’d argue that so long as these blue cities (including Dallas and Austin) remain pro-crime and anti-immigration enforcement, their city charters should also revoked. Those neighborhoods not supporting insurrection can be re-incorporated as new entities. Those areas that remain in rebellion should be denied self-governance until reconstructed.

Below the fold are Mayor Whitmire’s “This is a crisis situation” letter, as well as a tweet from Governor Abbott about the situation.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

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