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There is a new policy for how Houston police will handle illegal immigrants arrested for minor crimes.

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Mayor Bill White

Local leaders are keeping quiet, but some insiders are speaking up about the jail policy plan toward illegal immigrants.

Houston police have booked prisoners into city jails the same way for years.

But Mayor Bill White said that booking process is about to be changed, dramatically. 

“And obviously the procedures and policy we’ve been working hasn’t been working or effective so anything we do is going to be an improvement,” said Hans Marticiuc, Houston Police Officer’s Union President.

HPD began holding high-level meetings and reviewing its inmate processing procedures after an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered an officer after a traffic stop.

While officers won’t question citizenship status on the street, they will once a person is taken to jail, no matter how minor the crime.

“It shows the pressure they’re under to change,” said Wanda Schultz, Protect Our Citizens.  “We are grateful for that.  We have been begging them for that much at least for years.”

Sources told 11 News everyone arrested will also now be fingerprinted—even those arrested for minor crimes.

HPD will also be working closely with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to make sure illegal immigrants are not caught and released by police.

All the details are being worked out.

“Anytime you do procedural changes you have to look at how you carry it out, how it affects manpower, how it affects functions,” said Pat Trahan, City of Houston.  “And once you make those determinations you can determine what you can carry forth.”

Sources said the city is now trying to pattern its booking procedures after Harris County’s, but the county is also making changes.

A memo obtained by 11 News tells deputies they too will be asking if prisoners are in the country legally—a question that until now, only federal agents were asking in county jails.

Police Chief Harold Hurtt and the mayor are scheduled to make an announcement regarding the change in HPD booking procedures on Sunday.

This policy review comes one week after Houston Police Officer Rodney Johnson was killed in the line of duty.

Juan Leonardo Quintero, an illegal immigrant who Johnson detained on a traffic stop, is charged with capital murder.

Mayor White said the city will make an official announcement on the policy review Sunday.