BANNON: Houston declared itself a sanctuary city. Let me repeat that. Houston is now a sanctuary city
We told you this was coming. This is republic-ending. The fight for Texas just ramped up. Don’t listen to the happy talk that they want to work with you or that all they care about is affordability. These are Bolsheviks, and they intend to destroy our country.
BANNON: Houston declared itself a sanctuary city. Let me repeat that. Houston is now a sanctuary city.
We told you this was coming. This is republic-ending.
The fight for Texas just ramped up.
Don’t listen to the happy talk that they want to work with you or that all they care about is affordability.
These are Bolsheviks, and they intend to destroy our country.
— Grace Chong, MBI (@gc22gc) November 7, 2026
Houston Mayor Turns City Into Sanctuary for Illegals After Blue Wave — Bannon Calls It Republic-Ending
Houston just became the first major Texas city to openly limit police cooperation with ICE. Mayor John Whitmire signed an executive order Friday directing Houston Police Department officers to stop contacting Immigration and Customs Enforcement on routine stops or minor encounters that do not result in a jailable arrest—even when an administrative immigration warrant shows up.
Whitmire framed it as a way “to reduce fear and anxiety across our community” and said “elections matter.” Days earlier, Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Greg Abbott and will take the governor’s office in January. Local police can now write a citation or give a warning and let the person drive off. ICE only gets a call if the person is already headed to jail on a separate charge.
Steve Bannon put it bluntly on WarRoom: “Houston declared itself a sanctuary city. Let me repeat that. Houston is now a sanctuary city. We told you this was coming. This is republic-ending. The fight for Texas just ramped up.” He described the new Democratic leadership as Bolsheviks who intend to seize levers of power and clamp down so the state is no longer recognizable.
Todd Bensman: This is a monumental first Texas city to go SANCTUARY despite a state law requiring cooperation with ICE in turning over criminal aliens for deportation. But the Houston mayor knows the new crew taking over Austin will never enforce that law, so he’ll just start releasing them instead into the streets. Next dominoes: Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, McAllen, Laredo and most of the rest.
After a blue wave swept Texas, the Houston mayor announces that he’s ending local police cooperation with ICE to “reduce fear and anxiety across our community.” The Houston Police Dept was forced to work with ICE after the Abbott threatened to pull more than $110 million in funding from the city. Now, with Gina Hinojosa taking control of the state, local police will let any illegal immigrant they encounter who doesn’t have a jail worthy offense go free without notifying ICE.
After a blue wave swept Texas, the Houston mayor announces that he’s ending local police cooperation with ICE to “reduce fear and anxiety across our community.”
The Houston Police Dept was forced to work with ICE after the Abbott threatened to pull more than $110 million in funding from the city.
Now, with Gina Hinojosa taking control of the state, local police will let any illegal immigrant they encounter who doesn’t have a jail worthy offense go free without notifying ICE.
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) November 6, 2026
Todd Bensman of the Heritage Foundation called it monumental. Texas law (Senate Bill 4) requires local entities to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement and honor ICE detainers. The mayor is betting the incoming Austin crew will not enforce it. Bensman listed the next likely dominoes: Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, McAllen, Laredo, and most of the rest.
DHS pushed back hard. A spokesperson said sanctuary politicians limit cooperation while ICE officers risk their lives arresting violent criminal illegal aliens under federal law. The Supremacy Clause means local politicians do not control federal enforcement. When cities bar partnerships, ICE has to operate more visibly on the streets to catch the people jails release.
This is the classic sanctuary playbook. Cities and states adopt policies that prohibit or “materially limit” officers from asking about immigration status, sharing information, or holding people for ICE. Federal law (8 U.S.C. § 1373) bars restrictions on sharing citizenship or immigration status information with federal authorities. Broader statutes address harboring and obstruction. Courts have split on how far the anti-commandeering doctrine stretches, but the practical result is the same: people with removal orders or warrants walk free after a traffic stop or minor citation.
STEVE BANNON: The way the Bolsheviks roll is what exactly what they’re doing in Houston. They’re gonna grab the levers of power, they’re gonna use these tyrannical powers that the Republicans never took away from Abbott, and they’re going to run… They’re gonna clamp down on Texas so you’re not gonna recognize it, but they’re gonna have control.
And these Democrats, first of all, they’re gonna impeach Pete Hegseth next week.
But if nothing’s done, they’re gonna come back on January is “Hey, we’re gonna pass a War Powers Act, and you’re not gonna have any unilateral authority to do anything.” And then they’re gonna turn around and say, “Hey, we ended the war. We ended the war.”
— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) November 7, 2026
The human cost shows up in the numbers from places that have run this experiment for years. DHS recently highlighted California releasing nearly 24,000 criminal illegal aliens from jail since January 2025 rather than turning them over to ICE. Those cases carried more than 81,000 criminal charges or convictions, including 169 homicides, 147 sexual assaults, over a thousand assaults, and thousands of burglaries and drug trafficking counts. New York, Boston, and Philadelphia have shown similar patterns of ignored detainers for people with serious records. The people released go back onto American streets.
Whitmire previously adjusted Houston’s rules earlier this year after Abbott threatened to pull more than $110 million in public safety funding. Attorney General Ken Paxton had already sued over earlier sanctuary-style limits. With the blue wave, the financial and legal pressure looks lighter from City Hall’s perspective. Whitmire, who voted against SB 4 as a state senator, now presents the change as consistent with the law’s goal of targeting dangerous criminals. Critics see it as selective non-cooperation that leaves administrative warrant holders—and anyone who later escalates—on the street.
Americans in Houston will deal with the consequences of that choice. The same pattern has already produced victims elsewhere when local authorities prioritize shielding illegal aliens over notifying federal agents who have the authority and the mission to remove them. Bannon and others warned this would accelerate once Democrats controlled the levers in Austin. Houston just provided the opening move.
— The Whatfinger News Team: Sgt K and Sgt L, with Grok on edits and graphics
