Austin weighs ICE policy ahead of state funding deadline
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Austin officials have until Thursday to confirm they will not restrict cooperation between city police and ICE — or they risk losing $2.5 million in grants, per a threat from Gov. Greg Abbott's office.
Why it matters: Mayor Kirk Watson has called Abbott's threat "political theater," but it revives questions about how much power locally elected officials have to steer city policy.
- Abbott's threats extend to Dallas and Houston.
Driving the news: Council members are scheduled to talk with city lawyers on Thursday about issues related to SB 4, a 2017 state law that requires local police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities like ICE.
- An April 16 letter from the governor's Public Safety Office (PSO) asked Watson "to confirm that the city will not enforce, and will act to repeal" a March update to its guidelines regarding cooperation with ICE.
- "Failure to do so may result in PSO exercising its sole discretion to terminate all such grants," says the letter.
- The city was awarded roughly $2.5 million in public safety grants in fiscal year 2026. If the grants are terminated, the city will be required to repay the entire amount, per the letter.
Catch up quick: Earlier this year, the Austin Police Department announced new rules for when and how officers call ICE if someone they detained has a noncriminal immigration warrant.
- The rules were updated after APD in January called ICE during an encounter with a Honduran woman and her 5-year-old U.S. citizen daughter, which led to their deportation — and swift public backlash.
- The rules require officers to clear any communication with ICE with a supervisor if the suspect has a noncriminal administrative warrant. It also bars "unreasonably prolonging a detention" in order to contact ICE.
- Austin police must communicate with ICE about suspects facing criminal charges, according to the guidelines.
What they're saying: APD policy had been revised "to assure our officers can best meet local public safety needs, maximize the use of our limited police resources, and provide much needed clarity to officers when encountering ICE administrative warrants," Mayor Kirk Watson wrote on X last week.
- "Our APD officers do not have the capacity—and should not be asked— to do the jobs of other entities," Watson wrote. "There is great irony that the state would try to punish the city for providing services that keep Austinites safe by threatening grants that keep Austin safe."
Between the lines: Grants in jeopardy include one that provides services to police officers who experience trauma on the job, per the mayor's office.
- Other grants on the line aide survivors of sexual assault and improve the ability to respond to violent crimes against women.
Zoom out: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Houston city officials over the adoption of an ordinance designed to limit cooperation between local authorities and ICE, though the city council on Wednesday amended the ordinance to allow police to continue detaining immigrants with noncriminal ICE warrants without specific time constraints.
- Paxton has also opened an investigation into APD's immigration policy.