Ed Gonzalez is an American law enforcement officer and has served as the 30th sheriff of

Harris County, Texas Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 4,731,145, and was estimated to be 5,009,302 in 2024, making it the List of counties in Texas, most populous cou ...

, since January 2017. Gonzalez was the nominee for director for

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the Un ...

until he withdrew the nomination in June 2022.

Early life and education

Gonzalez is a native of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the

University of Houston–Downtown The University of Houston–Downtown (UHD) is a public university in Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1974 as University of Houston–Downtown College (UH–DC), it has a campus that spans in Downtown Houston with a satellite loc ...

and a Master of Science from the University of St. Thomas.

Career

Gonzalez worked as an officer in the

Houston Police Department The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary municipal law enforcement agency serving the city of Houston, Texas, United States, and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fi ...

for 18 years. He was elected to the

Houston City Council The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. The Council has sixteen members: eleven from council districts and five elected at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, wi ...

in 2009 and served until 2016. Representing District H, Gonzalez was also vice mayor pro tempore from 2010 to 2012. Gonzalez assumed office as the 30th sheriff of

, in January 2017.

Immigration policy

Gonzalez has been critical of former president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's immigration policies. In 2017, Gonzalez ended a partnership with ICE—which his department had participated in since 2008—where ten specially-trained Harris County officers were assigned to determine the immigration status of suspects in the Harris County jail. The officers were re-deployed. That same year, Gonzalez opposed a proposed state law banning

sanctuary cities A sanctuary city is a municipality that limits or denies its cooperation with the national government in enforcing immigration law. Proponents of sanctuary cities cite motives such as reducing the fear of persons which illegally immigrated fr ...

for illegal immigrants, and requiring local officials to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. In 2018, Gonzalez criticized US immigration policy, saying "children should not be in immigration detention", and "I do not support #ICERaids that threaten to deport millions of undocumented immigrants". In 2019, Gonzalez barred his officers from participating in raids by ICE to detain and deport illegal immigrants.

Bail

In 2017, Gonzalez testified against Harris County in federal court, saying "When most of the people in my jail are there because they can't afford to bond out, and when those people are disproportionately Black and Hispanic, that's not a rational system". At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gonzales proposed that bail be waived "for many of the eight thousand inmates in the Harris County jail".

Gun legislation

In 2021, Gonzalez opposed a

constitutional carry In the United States, the term constitutional carry, also called permitless carry, unrestricted carry, or Vermont carry, refers to the legal public carrying of a handgun, either openly or concealed, without a license or permit. The phrase does ...

gun bill which would allow Texans to carry guns without permits.

Nomination to director of ICE

In 2021, Gonzalez was nominated to be director of

. After he was nominated, allegations of domestic abuse by his wife came to light in a 2021 police affidavit report. Both Gonzalez and his wife denied that any such incident had occurred. After it became clear that the nomination was doomed due to multiple Democratic senators remaining undecided on the nomination, Gonzalez withdrew himself from consideration, stating that he would continue to serve as Harris County sheriff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Ed Living people Politicians from Houston Law enforcement officials from Houston University of Houston–Downtown alumni University of St. Thomas (Texas) alumni Texas sheriffs Biden administration personnel Houston City Council members Texas Democrats Year of birth missing (living people)