Texas AG Investigates Austin's ICE Policy

The Texas Attorney General’s Office is investigating the city of Austin over a policy that limits how police interact with federal immigration agents, setting up a potential clash over state law requiring cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The investigation comes after policy changes implemented by Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis in March that prohibit Austin officers from arresting or detaining someone based solely on a noncriminal ICE warrant — a move city officials argue is legal but critics say may conflict with Senate Bill 4, the state’s 2017 law prohibiting cities from limiting police cooperation with federal immigration agents.

City spokesperson Jenny LaCoste-Caputo confirmed to the American-Statesman on Monday night that the Attorney General’s Office sent a letter Friday notifying the city of the investigation.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax said in a written statement the policies were revised earlier this year to help officers navigate an influx of administrative warrants, which are issued by ICE to arrest individuals for immigration violations.

“The revised General Orders were designed to ensure the City can continue meeting our local public safety needs, provide clarity for our officers, and continue complying with all legal requirements, including the U.S. Constitution and SB4,” Broadnax said.

The Police Department’s General Orders are the policies that guide officer conduct.

Austin City Council Member José “Chito” Vela, who helped craft the Police Department’s new ICE policy, said his office worked with the city attorney and legal experts to ensure that the new guidelines comply with state and federal laws.

“I firmly believe any good-faith investigation will confirm that,” Vela said in a written statement.

Mike Siegel, another council member, issued a statement on social media saying "the city is in full compliance with the law, and Paxton’s grandstanding does nothing to change that.”

The March changes clarified that ICE administrative warrants alone are not sufficient grounds for Austin officers to detain or arrest individuals. However, the policy does not ban officers from contacting immigration agents, a limitation that Davis said would infringe on SB4.

The new policy allows officers to wait for ICE agents to arrive and make an arrest only if they receive approval from supervisors.

That policy came about a month after the Statesman reported that Austin police officers had called ICE on a Honduran immigrant who had called 911. Austin police said it believed the woman was abusing emergency calls; yet, her eventual removal — along with her U.S. citizen child — triggered public backlash.

ICE can issue its own administrative warrants to arrest someone for an immigration violation. However, unlike criminal warrants, they are not signed by a judge and are not legally binding on local law enforcement agencies.

News of the attorney general’s investigation in Austin comes the same day the Houston Chronicle reported that Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to pull more than $100 million in grant funds from Texas’ largest city after it adopted a policy limiting police cooperation with ICE. The Attorney General’s Office also opened an investigation into whether Houston violated state law, the Chronicle reported.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office and the governor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday night.