I recently read a statement by Benjamin Franklin: “We are all born ignorant, but one must work really hard to remain stupid.”
Underneath the statement was a photo of Donald Trump as the hardest-working man in America. Maybe here in Houston, we need to add a photo of John Whitmire next to Donald? John Whitmire can give Trump a run for his money on his telling fibs or living in an alternate reality.
John Whitmire needs 12 votes before they can take up a repeal of the newly adopted ordinance. It seems Whitmire is having trouble rounding up 12 votes for even taking up the repeal.
The following is from the Houston Press:
A meeting scheduled for Friday morning to repeal Houston’s immigration ordinance was abruptly canceled Thursday afternoon and instead the city council will discuss the matter on Wednesday, April 22.
A City Hall staffer who asked to remain anonymous said Friday’s meeting was likely scrapped because Mayor John Whitmire didn’t have the votes to even take up the item. Twelve people, or a two-thirds vote, are needed to suspend the rules to consider bringing up an ordinance within 90 days of its passage or defeat. The ordinance governing how HPD interacts with ICE was approved on April 8, in a 12-5 vote with Whitmire in favor.
The mayor claimed earlier this week that some of the grant money has already been frozen, but he hasn’t shown any documentation to explain what that means.
The City Hall staffer said there’s widespread confusion about which grants are being revoked and how money can be “frozen” when it was already issued to the city. A list of 14 grants totaling about $110 million was distributed to department directors and includes $64.6 million for World Cup security, various crime prevention programs, law enforcement equipment and homeland security initiatives.
But some of the grants on the list don’t apply to fiscal year 2026, and when the list was recalculated, the number dropped from $110 million to $26.5 million, the staffer said. Even elected council members don’t appear to know what was said in Whitmire’s conversation with the governor’s office or what he’s planning next week to rectify the matter.
Salinas has said that Abbott’s threat is “straight out of the schoolyard bully playbook” and suggested filing a temporary restraining order — a measure that must be initiated by the city attorney — to halt the action against the city and let the matter be decided in court. “The premise that Houston must either repeal this ordinance or lose funding is a false choice designed to force compliance through fear. Those are not the only options,” Salinas said.
Discussion about the ordinance got heated during a public comment session earlier this week. Houston Police Officers Union president Doug Griffith said, “If something happens and we don’t take somebody in on one of these warrants and they go and kill somebody tomorrow or rape or rob somebody, guess what? We’re on the hook and so is the city because y’all are the ones that enacted this ordinance.”
Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday evening that he’s suing Houston, Whitmire, the city council and Police Chief Noe Diaz. The lawsuit alleges that Houston adopted an unlawful ordinance that violates Senate Bill 4, which prohibits local entities from adopting or enforcing a policy that limits the enforcement of federal immigration laws.