Reporter message: NASA splashdown, immigration ordinance, HISD school closure

Welcome back, astronauts!

There’s something beautiful about watching astronauts come home.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen splashed down at 8:07 p.m. EDT on April 10, 2026, off the coast of San Diego, completing their nearly 10-day celestial journey.

Their journey around the moon, which took them farther than the Apollo 13 mission did in 1970, has been an indelible milestone in the long history of mankind.

People across the globe cheered them on for their grit and intelligence, but above all, their humanness.

Koch being greeted at the door by her dog, Glover talking to his neighbors who gathered around his house to give him a hero’s welcome, Wiseman naming a moon crater after his late wife Carroll, and Hansen making it back to earth just in time to celebrate his wedding anniversary, remind us that we are all united in our lived experiences.

From space, they could not see the color of people’s skin. All they could see was, as Glover puts it, a “spaceship called Earth.”

In Houston, a city that lives and breathes space exploration, the welcome felt more personal…there was relief behind the reunions I saw on screen. We went to bed knowing that a once unimaginable feat is now complete and mankind has taken another “giant leap.”

City Council passes immigration ordinance after heated debate

Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to pull $110 million from Houston’s public safety grants, following a City Council decision to limit Houston police officers’ interactions with federal immigration agents last week. Whitmire is now suggesting repealing the ordinance and has called a special council meeting on April 17 to discuss it. 

Despite voting “yes” on the policy, he said he warned the ordinance sponsors, Council Members Alejandra Salinas, Abbie Kamin, and Edward Pollard about the “legal and financial risks associated with this approach.”

“This is a crisis situation. The potential loss of state funding poses real challenges for the Houston Police and Fire Departments and will impact public safety services across our city, the 2026 FIFA World Cup preparations and the Homeland Security Department,” he said. “Our public safety departments rely on a combination of local, state, and federal resources to operate effectively. We have significant work ahead and I’m considering all options.”

The ordinance Whitmire wants to wipe off the books says that routine traffic stops cannot be prolonged beyond the time needed to complete their “lawful purpose” and to wait for ICE. This effectively overturns a March 11 HPD directive that gave ICE 30 minutes to arrive at the scene if a background check revealed an immigration warrant during a stop and a sergeant confirms the warrant is valid.

Council members who supported the ordinance framed it as a public-safety measure.

Salinas, who proposed the ordinance, said the goal to reduce cooperation with ICE was a “bare minimum” move and a “positive step forward”. She is now urging Whitmire and the City Attorney to immediately file a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) by the State’s April 20th deadline to prevent Abbott from withdrawing funds. Salinas also proposed seeking a “declaratory judgment affirming that this ordinance is lawful.”

Not everyone was convinced.  Some council members argued the change is mostly symbolic, noting that only a small number of cases actually start with HPD. Others worried it could undermine officer discretion or public safety.

“While we all want policies that promote safety and fairness, we are particularly concerned that placing a national spotlight on our city will create unsafe situations for our community and exacerbate the pressure placed on law enforcement,” said at-large council member Twila Carter.

Last week, Whitmire warned the council, “the legislature’s watching”. And sure enough, the city now faces a tough choice between acting on community concerns and a looming state deadline.

HISD’s quiet campus closure

Houston ISD’s quiet closure of Harper Disciplinary Alternative Education Program happened without much communication from the school district.

High school students from this school were moved to another Secondary DAEP campus near Fifth Ward.

This comes after HISD’s decision to consolidate 12 schools earlier this year.

But the decision to close Harper was not put before the Board of Managers for approval.

At the same time, disciplinary incidents have fluctuated, and the district is trying to reduce suspensions while managing growing needs among students already pushed out of traditional classrooms.