Governor Greg Abbot announced Wednesday that he will push to pass legislation that would “remove from office any officeholder who promotes sanctuary cities.”
Abbott said Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez will be out of a job if she does not roll back on plans to ease up on federal immigration enforcement.
The newly elected sheriff for Travis County announced Friday plans to stop honoring all federal immigration detainers starting in February. The governor has already said the state will immediately cut funds to the so-called sanctuary jail, which is located in Austin.
“We will remove her from office,” Abbott said in an interview on “Fox and Friends.”
Abbott did not provide details on how legislation would boot Sheriff Hernandez or other elected officials from office.
“I don’t know how the governor would suggest to do that,” said state Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas. “Unless the governor wants to be king and remove people from office unilaterally, then I think the people of Travis County will have an opportunity to speak on the sheriff, the governor and all other elected officials when they stand for re-election.”
Abbott doesn’t have the power to remove local officials from office. But Texas Republicans have filed multiple bills that would punish local governments for not arresting or detaining undocumented immigrants who are living in the country illegally.
“It’s sad that we have write a bill to tell you to apply the law,” said state Senator Charles Perry, R-Lubbock.
Perry filed legislation that would ban sanctuary cities in Texas and require that local law enforcement officers honor detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
“We have a process that if you come to this country illegally and you commit a crime, you get deported,” Perry said. “And if we don’t enforce that, then we are going to be turning criminals back into our communities.”
Perry said some local police departments have “unwritten policies” that instruct officers to not ask about a person’s immigration status after an arrest has been made.
“Have a lawful detainment, you book them, if they are undocumented then you turn them over to ICE,” Perry said. “That’s the process today, the bill doesn’t change that process.”
Critics argue any legislation that would require local police to enforce federal immigration policies would drain local resources, in term of both money and manpower.
“If these bills pass it will actually make us less safe,” Rep. Anchia said at a news conference Wednesday.
Democratic lawmakers joined the Mexican American Legislative Caucus to voice opposition against bans on sanctuary cities and sanctuary policies.
State Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, said, “These proposals will potentially subject our local jurisdictions to huge legal liabilities and will open the door to racial profiling.” Sen. Perry pointed out that Senate Bill 4 specifically states racial profiling is illegal and not to be used. Inquiries into a person’s immigration status are to only be made after a lawful detainment. Rep. Anchia said, “We are spending some much time and legislative oxygen as if this were the most pressing issue for the state and it’s really about something else. It’s about demonizing and attacking the immigrant community, most of which is Latino.”
Sweeping immigration reform at the federal level could drown out the debate in the State of Texas.
The White House Press Secretary announced the Trump Administration plans to strip federal grant money from the states and cities that have sanctuary policies Wednesday afternoon.
