Members of the Lubbock Democratic Party met today to voice their opinions on the proposed Senate Bill Four, which is a bill that would eliminate “sanctuary cities” in Texas and allow police to ask questions during routine stops that might help them determine the status of a person’s citizenship.
Some of the members of the Democratic Party say this Bill will cause a division in the community making it hard for both police and residents.
“People are going to feel that the local police are going to arrest them for immigration violation. Which could result in violating trust relationships they are having with the community,” said Miquel Levario, a history professor at Texas Tech.
Levario says that the responsibilities of this Bill shouldn’t be put on local police officers and that it is a law that needs to be held at the federal level.
“Immigration laws are federal laws, therefore they are not the responsibility of local law enforcement,” said Levario.
Fellow Texas Tech professor Daniel Epstein agrees, “They want them to enforce federal government policy, I mean that’s Washington’s job that shouldn’t be the job of Texas Tech police or Lubbock police.”
In a hearing last week State Senator Charles Perry said, “SB-4 is a step in the right direction to where people who are victims of crime or people who are witness to a crime, would have statutory protection now that says they are specifically exempt from the immigration inquiry.”
The current session attempting to pass this bill will finish in May.
