Anti-Sanctuary Cities Bill Clears Texas Senate, Goes To House Next Toward Final Passage

AUSTIN, TX — The state Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to Senate Bill 4 — a proposed law that would prohibit so-called "sanctuary cities" defined as those not strictly enforcing immigration laws by cooperating with federal customs agents intent on deportations.

The proposed bill now goes to the Texas House of Representatives where GOP lawmakers hope to make it the law of the land in Texas.

The GOP-designed bill gained tentative approval on Tuesday. By the time it was passed along party lines, conservatives championing the measure inserted amendments to the bill giving it some real teeth, including fines beginning at $1000-$1,500 for initial offenders reaching of up to $25,000 a day assessed to non-compliant municipalities, and the real possibility of jail time for sheriffs and other elected officials choosing not to strictly enforce immigration policy at the local level.

The bill comes amid a rift between Gov. Greg Abbott and Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez over how best to enforce federal immigration policy locally. Citing the likelihood of police mistrust among targeted communities and their subsequent hesitancy in reporting crimes for fear of being discovered as undocumented, Hernandez (like other sheriffs and police chiefs) has opted for a more relaxed implementation of immigration policy that places a priority on deportations only on high-level felons.

But Abbott vehemently disagrees with the approach, previously stripping the overall county of $1.5 million in grants and mulling ways of removing the duly elected sheriff from office as a result of his disagreement with Hernandez. In Abbott's "state of the state" address, the governor — who has been married to a woman who is the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants for more than three decades — made deportations of non-citizens vis a vis his elimination of sanctuary cities as an "emergency item" of his governance.

Critics decry the anti-sanctuaries city bill as tacit endorsement of having giving law enforcement officials carte blanche in inquiring about residents' residency status, seeing the developing legislation as nothing more than a "papers, please" initiative.

Detractors of conservatives' priority bill also object to its insistence in having local law enforcement officials honor so-called ICE detainers at the behest of Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) leading to minimum 48-hour holds of detainees suspected of being undocumented to allow border agents time to arrive at local detention facilities to begin deportation proceedings.

Those ICE holds often take more than 48 hours when detentions occur on weekends or holidays, during which time arrested residents are locked up while denied the ability to post bail. ICE agents generally travel from their San Antonio base to fetch the detainees, the long holds designed to give them enough time to travel in retrieving detainees.

Other critics of the proposed measure say it will only serve to enable racial or ethnic profiling of minorities amid growing evidence that minorities are disproportionately targeted by police in enacting traffic and other laws.

SB 4 has been sailing through the legislative process despite widespread backlash. Despite hearing from more than 1,100 residents airing their displeasure of the proposed bill last week, members of the Senate State Affairs Committee approved the measure after 16 hours of testimony thus clearing its way to reach the state Senate. Members of the Workers Defense Project arranged a hastily called vigil on the Texas Capitol grounds Tuesday evening after the bill gained tentative House approval before Wednesday's final passage in that chamber.

Other immigrant advocates voiced their displeasure at the bill's final Senate passage.

"The Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance is deeply disappointed that the Texas Senate has persisted in ignoring widespread concerns of citizens and has passed Senate Bill 4, the 'anti-sanctuary cities' bill," officials there said in a prepared statement. "After more than 1,100 citizens registered their opposition to the bill at last week's hearing, Republican senators, all of whom voted to pass SB 4, once again demonstrated disregard for citizen concerns over community safety and the devastating impact SB4 would have on families and communities across Texas."

Maria Robles, a bilingual organizer with Faith in Texas, focused on the likelihood of erosion in trust of police at communities where such legislation would be most forcefully enforced — the same fear shared by the Travis County sheriff and other law enforcement leaders across the state preferring a less-aggressive approach to dealing with the undocumented.

“The passage of SB 4 in the Senate begins to erode the trust law enforcement agencies have built with diverse communities by allowing rogue officers to carryout immigration enforcement,” Robles said. “But, we still have the House, and communities from across walks of life will come together to stand in solidarity to reclaim our dignity.”

The executive director of the Workers Defense Project, Jose P. Garza, previously aired his own discontent at the forceful insistence on passing the bill cracking down on an undocumented populace he views as something of an economic backbone in many cities, including fast-growing Austin where their members are seen helping build an ever-changing skyline and catering to customers at hotels and restaurants filled by a growing population that grows by some 156 new residents a day.

“SB 4 is a misguided priority of the state and our members will continue to show up at the Capitol along with Texans from across the state to oppose SB 4, “ Garza said. “The 1.8 million undocumented immigrants that live in our state are hard working and are responsible for building the houses and skyscrapers that dot our communities and skyline. They pay 1.6 billion in taxes and contribute to the success of our businesses and economy."

From El Paso, Texas, another voice of discontent came from Robert Heyman, policy director at the Border Network for Human Rights.

"We know from years of experience that community safety is built on the ability of every person in our communities to trust the police," he said. "We are very proud of the effort local law enforcement in El Paso has put into building up that community trust, they are why El Paso is consistently the safest large city in the U.S. SB 4 undermines our local choices that build trust in favor of a Big Government bullying of localities and immigrant communities. We hope the House can see the error of the Senate's ways."

Members of Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance plan to continue to protest their opposition to SB 4 as it now heads to the Texas House of Representatives, officials said. Upcoming events staged in opposition to the measure include a Law Enforcement Summit on Feb. 15 and a Day for Action for Immigrant and Refugee Rights scheduled Feb. 28.

>>> Photos of vigil staged at the Texas Capitol by members of Workers Defense Project, courtesy of WDP