The city of Houston is being sued over how Houston Police Department officers interact with ICE agents, according to FOX 26 Houston. The station reported that the lawsuit was filed by civil rights attorney Randall Callanan, who is taking aim at how HPD handles people that federal immigration agents are seeking.
Callanan accuses the city of not following its recently passed ordinance from April, FOX 26 reported. According to the station, that ordinance says officers cannot hold someone for an extended amount of time or extend a stop in order to wait for ICE to arrive.
Despite that rule, Callanan says some HPD officers are not following it, FOX 26 reported. The station said the attorney's suit argues the city has allowed stops to be prolonged so federal agents can take custody of the person pulled over.
To make his case, Callanan pointed to 29-year-old Erick Lopez, according to FOX 26. The station said the attorney claims Lopez was pulled over in June and then held for two hours so that ICE agents could show up, and that he was deported days later.
According to FOX 26, Callanan stressed that Lopez had no criminal record whatsoever. The station relayed the attorney's argument that Lopez was not the kind of person federal authorities had said they would target when the administration described going after hardened criminals.
The station aired the account of a relative who said Lopez had been the main supporter of the family and was now gone. FOX 26 presented that reaction as the human toll behind the legal fight over the traffic stop and the two-hour hold.
FOX 26 said it reached out to the city about the allegations, and that a spokesperson said they have nothing to add at this time. The station framed the suit as a test of the April ordinance and how far HPD can go in coordinating with ICE during ordinary stops.