Houston police officers contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 88 times from July through the end of September, according to data the Houston Police Department released Thursday. The calls happened when officers found people with immigration warrants. On average, officers held people about 45 minutes while waiting for ICE to respond, the department said.
Of those cases, HPD said 58 people were released, 13 were taken to jail on new charges and 17 were taken into ICE custody. In 33 cases, officers were responding to an emergency services call. The data report does not say whether the person who called for help was the subject of the warrant.
Mayor John Whitmire said Wednesday that 17 ICE involvements out of 300,000 contacts speak for themselves. Council member Alejandra Salinas called on HPD to explain how calling ICE on crime victims makes the community safer. HPD Chief Noe Diaz said he would not dismiss concerns about trust, but said calls for service have not changed in the last quarter, according to statistics.