COMMENTARY: Anti-sanctuary cities bill threatens Texas families

BY STATE REP. RENE O. OLIVEIRA

Dangerous legislation that would be punitive to all immigrants in Texas is aggressively advancing through the Texas Legislature. Those of us with family and friends from other countries who are living in Texas should be keenly aware of the dangers of this offensive legislation.

Dangerous legislation that would be punitive to all immigrants in Texas is aggressively advancing through the Texas Legislature. Those of us with family and friends from other countries who are living in Texas should be keenly aware of the dangers of this offensive legislation.

Senate Bill 4, the anti-sanctuary cities bill, cleared the Texas House of Representatives Committee on State Affairs last week along party lines. It will soon be debated on the House Floor, possibly this week.

I believe this bill violates both the 4th and 10th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and is riddled with potential civil rights abuses. I remain certain that this legislation could force Texas police and sheriffs to become the tentacles of federal deportation efforts.

SB 4, along with new federal immigration policies, has spread fear throughout Latino and immigrant communities in Texas. It has contributed to well-documented, high levels of anxiety among large numbers of school children, who are legal U.S. citizens, who fear that one or both of their parents could be deported.

One of the bill’s biggest red flags is its near unanimous disapproval by Texas sheriffs and chiefs of police who fear if this legislation is passed it would erode community trust. They fear that undocumented victims of crime and witnesses to crimes would be reluctant to testify against criminals for fear of potential deportation.

SB 4 provides criminal penalties for police chiefs and elected law enforcement officials, like sheriffs, if they direct officers under their supervision to not enforce U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers. The bill also calls for civil penalties for local entities whose law enforcement leaders would disregard ICE detainers, or articulate a policy against enforcing those detainers, for any reason.

Frighteningly, the bill also includes college campus police departments which are charged with the safety of our students many of whom are here from other nations and have varying degrees of immigration status. This bill also threatens our DREAMer (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act students, who, through no fault of their own were brought to this country where they attend school in the nation in which they were raised. College campuses should be safe places where students should not be fearful of interactions with campus police.

Dangerously, too, SB 4 would deprive law enforcement officers discretion over which offenses would trigger interaction with the federal government after an arrest is made. An arrest for a minor offense could trigger deportation proceedings under the bill’s current form.

While the measure appears to have a strong chance of passing, there remains time to fight it. But even if further amended, SB 4 would still set dangerous precedents in a state that depends on a diverse workforce from around the globe.