Austin has won a temporary reprieve in a high-stakes dispute with the state, after the governor’s office extended a deadline to roll back police limits on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, or risk losing millions of dollars in public safety funding.
City leaders say they have been in ongoing talks with the state since Gov. Greg Abbott warned Austin could lose roughly $2.5 million in public safety grants and be forced to repay the money if the Austin Police Department does not reverse recent changes to its policy limiting interaction with ICE. The state originally gave Austin until Thursday to comply.
“The Governor’s office has extended its initial deadline,” said Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, the city’s deputy chief communications director. “We hope to reach a resolution in the coming days.”
City officials maintain the recent amendments comply with state law, but some acknowledge the millions in public safety funding at stake may be too significant to risk. Meanwhile, community advocates are urging city leaders not to yield to state pressure, setting up a political and legal standoff over how far Austin should go to defend its policy.
“The public safety grant dollars are vitally important to our community — providing funding for things like victim services, timely processing of sexual assault evidence, targeted resources to address violence against women, youth diversion programs that keep kids out of the juvenile justice system, and cybersecurity enhancements that protect against cyber attacks and terror threats,” said Ramon Batista, Assistant City Manager for Public Safety. “The city must be able to allocate its resources in a way that protects public safety.”
In March, the Austin Police Department revised its ICE policy after a January case involving the detention and alleged deportation of a woman and her child sparked fierce community backlash. The changes were intended to respond to those concerns by limiting some interactions with ICE while maintaining compliance with state law. SB 4, the 2017 state law at the center of the debate, penalizes local and state agencies for refusing to enforce immigration laws.
State threatens funding over compliance
In that January case, Honduran-born Karen Gutiérrez Castellanos called police about a domestic disturbance in southwest Austin. She was not charged with a crime, but an ICE administrative warrant appeared in her file. The responding officer contacted the federal agency, leading to her detention. Under the recently amended policy, Austin police officers “are not authorized to make an arrest or detention based solely on an ICE Administrative Warrant.”
The state, however, disputes that APD’s revised policy complies with state requirements, pointing to a 2025 grant certification it says requires Austin to “participate fully” with ICE, including notifying and detaining individuals at the request of the Department of Homeland Security.
State leaders have issued similar warnings, including threats to pull funding, to Dallas and Houston. On Wednesday, Houston’s City Council voted 13–4 to amend its ordinance limiting cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE, raising questions about whether major cities will engage in a political fight with the state.
Community advocates say Austin should not follow suit and instead remain the Texas city that holds its position under pressure.
“One of these big cities needs to be standing up to Abbott and (Texas Attorney General Ken) Paxton,” said Meira “Gumbo” Vedros, a co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America’s Austin chapter. “It all kind of feels like a political game … We need to stand up and say, ‘No, we’re not about that.’”
Legal fight looms over policy
Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an Austin immigration lawyer, said Abbott’s involvement in local policies across targeted Texas cities will ultimately harm public safety and argues Austin’s policy change is legally sound.
The policy says “we will not unconstitutionally prolong detention based on something like an administrative warrant, which hasn’t cleared the courts,” she said. “In my opinion and analysis, it is illegal and unconstitutional for police officers to hold someone on an administrative warrant.”
Goldfinch said Austin has legal grounds to defend its policy changes and hopes city leaders “will not back down.”
“I am infuriated at our governor and our state leadership for the way that they’re behaving about cities like Austin, Houston and Dallas, stepping up to ensure that constitutional rights of its residents are protected,” she said. “The cities have made very common-sense policies.”
