It’s soon going to be a lot more difficult to be a sanctuary jurisdiction in Texas. Donald Trump’s plan to cut federal funding to sanctuary cities way be held up by the courts, but the state of Texas is moving forward with their own plan to halt the proliferation of sanctuary cities.
The Texas Legislature is on the final step to passing a bill that will penalize jurisdictions, including college campus police departments, which have sanctuary policies protecting illegal immigrants. The bill puts sharp teeth in the battle to stop such policies.
While Republicans control the Texas House and Senate, the road to passage has been hard fought. The Texas Senate passed the measure in early February, after Governor Greg Abbott declared the issue to be an emergency item in his State of the State Address.
Senate Bill 4 provides that local entities, a state justice agency, or campus police department, would be subject to civil penalties of up to $25,500 a day for violating the new law. Civil penalties collected must be used to compensate crime victims. These governmental bodies would also be prohibited from receiving funds from state grants.
Entities could also lose their sovereign immunity in lawsuits brought against them because of injuries caused by the release of criminal aliens subject to ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detainers. The provision applies to criminal aliens who commit a felony within 10 years after their release.
Moreover, an elected official of a jurisdiction or “an individual who is appointed by [that] governing body” would be guilty of a criminal offense. As reported by Breitbart Texas, the provisions would make it a crime for sheriffs, police chiefs, and other law enforcement officers and those appointed by them, to refuse to cooperate with immigration officials. The crime would be a Class A misdemeanor. Elected officials also face removal from office when the bill becomes law.
It will be interesting to see what happens to leftist politicians in Texas once this bill goes live. They’ve always been a champion of illegals’ rights, but not with their own job on the line. Now that they will be subject to removal from office, they may be a bit more shy about their willingness to defy federal immigration enforcement.
Source: Breitbart
Just enforce the law
No sanctuary cities in America, is the way it should be.