JOE STRAUS, the Speaker of the Texas House, asked his colleagues to show respect for each other, and a sense of civility, while debating a bill that would ban sanctuary cities. Eddie Lucio III, a Democrat, put the point a bit differently. Republicans control the legislature by 95 seats to 55; still, Mr Lucio warned, they should proceed with caution: “We are very emotionally charged. Do not mess with us today.”
So much for that. Early on April 27th, after a fraught debate, the Texas House approved a remarkably stringent bill. SB4 will penalise local officials who fail to co-operate with federal immigration authorities by allowing police to inquire into the legal status of people who are merely detained (even in traffic stops), rather than arrested. Amendments that would have created exemptions for nurseries and women’s shelters were struck down. It is perhaps the most sweeping measure of its kind since 2010, when Arizona passed a measure that came to be known as the “Show Me Your Papers” law. Republicans in Texas may come to regret their achievement.
The state’s governor, Greg Abbott, had made a ban on sanctuary cities one of his priorities for the legislative session that began in January. Polls have found that roughly half of Texans—and a large majority of Republicans—are in favour of the idea. SB4 sailed through the Texas Senate in...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2p9W3tj
EmoticonEmoticon