AUSTIN, Texas – The Austin Police Department (APD) has updated its General Orders concerning interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and related immigration operations, leading to significant changes in how officers can respond to administrative warrants issued by ICE.
The new directives clarify that APD officers are no longer permitted to make arrests or detentions based solely on an ICE administrative warrant. Furthermore, officers are not obligated to notify ICE or extend a detention for the purpose of contacting the agency.
The revised orders were outlined by Chief Lisa Davis, who issued them on Thursday. They specify the procedures that officers must follow upon discovering that an individual in their custody has an ICE administrative warrant as opposed to an ICE detainer request.
Additionally, officers, including those in secondary jobs, are prohibited from detaining individuals subject to ICE administrative warrants at sensitive locations such as places of worship, hospitals, and schools, unless there are urgent circumstances necessitating immediate law enforcement intervention to safeguard public safety.
However, the APD is still required to comply with ICE detainer requests in accordance with state law and departmental policy. These revisions were prompted by the previous lack of clarity distinguishing between ICE detainers and ICE administrative warrants.
The updated orders define the two terms as follows: an ICE detainer is a formal request from ICE to local authorities to hold a person for an additional 48 hours beyond their scheduled release to facilitate deportation proceedings. In contrast, an ICE administrative warrant is issued by a federal immigration official based on probable cause that an individual is unlawfully in the U.S., yet it is not subject to judicial review and carries limited legal authority.
In a joint statement, Austin City Council members José Velásquez and José “Chito” Vela praised the new orders as a significant advancement in ensuring that Austin remains a safe and inclusive city. They expressed gratitude to Chief Davis for involving Council offices in the drafting process and to community advocates and civil rights lawyers for their contributions.
The council members emphasized that the new guidelines provide clear instructions to law enforcement, ensuring that arrests or detentions cannot be made solely on the basis of an ICE administrative warrant, and that contacting ICE is not mandatory. They also highlighted the requirement for high-level approval within the police chain of command for any potential detentions, which will be denied if deemed an irresponsible use of resources or if it could deter victims or witnesses from coming forward.
The changes were initiated following an incident in January when the APD contacted ICE regarding a mother and her five-year-old daughter, Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos, who were taken into custody in the Oak Hill area. The APD responded to a disturbance call, found no issues, but identified an individual with an ICE administrative warrant, leading to the involvement of federal authorities.
Grassroots Leadership, an advocacy group, later revealed that Génesis is a U.S. citizen and criticized the lack of efforts to contact family members or involve child protective services prior to her and her mother’s transfer to ICE.
