On Friday, the Texas Senate State Affairs committee voted 7-2 to advance Senate Bill 4 (SB 4), a bill that targets so-called “sanctuary cities” and aims to punish local government entities and college campuses that refuse to enforce immigration laws or cooperate with immigration officials.
Among the hundreds of people that came to Austin to testify in opposition of the bill on Thursday was San Antonio Police Chief William McManus. While San Antonio isn’t a sanctuary city, McManus said local police officers don’t inquire about someone’s immigration status when making arrests.
“This bill usurps the authority of police chiefs to direct their departments,” McManus told State senators. “We simply do not have the capacity to handle immigration laws as well as enforcing the laws of the penal code.”
McManus added that the San Antonio Police Department is understaffed as it is and said it would take “at least a year” to train officers in federal immigration law.
If passed, the bill would punish local governments if their law enforcement agencies don’t honor U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement detainers – requests to hold immigrants for 48 hours and hand them over for possible deportation.
The decision Friday came on the heels of Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to cut around $1.5 million in criminal justice grants to Travis County after its sheriff, Sally Hernandez, pledged to uphold sanctuary protections.
Thank you, Chief McManus.
Isn’t our governor married to a Mexican lady who has a Mexican family also from that are immigrants ? Doesn’t he realize that the largest part of Texas are Mexican American that have contributed to our growth ? The problem is politics and money, but the biggest problem is our unity in voicing what we want, what we require to continue to progress. There is no denying who we are but our voices are a whisper. Remember Jose Antonio Navarro. He wrote and spoke for Texas to be born. Just remember for our children’s future. That’s what I think.
What a hot issue! Texas needs migrants to pick lettuce and work in the kitchen of restaurants but doesn’t want them at the same time! Illegal Immigration is wrong but we have a need for these labor intensive jobs. There must be a better way! We can’t have people just come here illegally that’s not acceptable but we must have a path to legalize their status to enable them to work . We all know illegals don’t steal jobs because I don’t hear Texans or Americans working the fields all I hear is Spanish