WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) – Houston city officials on Wednesday amended an ordinance that halted cooperation with federal immigration authorities after Texas’ governor threatened to withhold $114 million in public safety funds ahead of this summer’s World Cup matches.
The ordinance passed this month would have limited police in Texas’ largest city and the fourth-most populous in the United States from detaining people under eviction notices.
The Houston City Council voted 13-4 to approve the amendment, Democratic Mayor John Whitmire’s office said, adding that it would protect $114 million in state funding and strengthen people’s rights against unreasonable detention.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup starts on June 11 in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Wednesday’s change removed an explicit barrier to the practice of giving federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents 30 minutes to pick up people named in arrest warrants.
The passage of the amendment was “a step in the right direction,” a spokesman for Republican Governor Greg Abbott told the Texas Tribune newspaper.
The amendment also removes a description of ICE’s administrative arrest warrants as being “not reviewed by a neutral magistrate or judge and not probable cause for a criminal arrest,” the newspaper added.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had filed a lawsuit against the Democratic mayor and city council members over the ordinance.
Civil rights groups condemned the amendment.
“The Houston City Council gave in to the governor’s threats and intimidation,” said Caro Rivera Nelson, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas.
“The effective repeal of Proposition A is a stain on our state,” she added, referring to the ordinance.
ICE has been the face of the crackdown on immigration and deportation by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.
Rights groups have condemned the crackdown, saying it has led to violations of freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial and created an unsafe environment, especially for minorities.
Trump views his actions as necessary to improve homeland security and curb illegal immigration.
