A quarterly report released Wednesday shows the Houston Police Department detained people for an average of 46 minutes during immigration encounters. In some cases, HPD turned people over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The city ordinance requires the report.
The report says HPD called ICE 88 times between July and the end of September 2026. ICE arrested 17 people who had immigration warrants. One of those encounters was linked to a child sex assault report. HPD released 58 people, and 13 others were sent to jail on charges unrelated to immigration.
The report notes that disagreement remains over whether local police can detain people solely on an immigration warrant. Those warrants are civil, and enforcement is handled by the federal government. The city said HPD had contact with nearly 293,000 people during the three-month period.