Fort Worth bishop among critics of ‘sanctuary cities’ bill

Local residents — including Fort Worth Diocese Bishop Michael F. Olson — were quick to weigh in on the anti-“sanctuary cities” bill after it passed Thursday afternoon.

Olson said he was disappointed the bill made it through the House and fears it will bring confusion and hostility.

“Much of the rhetoric in support of this bill’s passage will foster greater fear and hostility of our immigrant families who already contribute to our state’s society and economy,” he said. “Such fostering of fear runs the risk of contributing to discord and violence.”

And he had a reminder for the faithful: “As your bishop, I remind Catholics and all people of good will that we have a basic responsibility to welcome the immigrant in accord with the human dignity of each person created in God’s image and likeness.”

The bill’s sponsor, Fort Worth Republican state Rep. Charlie Geren — who drew flak for flippant responses to the hunger fasts that state Reps. Victoria Neave, D-Dallas, and Ramon Romero Jr., D-Fort Worth, began earlier this week — defended the bill after its passage.

“The purpose of this legislation is to protect Texans from criminals who are here illegally,” Geren said. “We are trying to make sure those bad actors are detained until we can determine their status.

“This bill will not affect law abiding citizens, only those that are in trouble with the police.”

Nonetheless, some members of the Indivisible FWTX (TX-12) group from Fort Worth encouraged a boycott of Geren’s restaurant — Railhead Smokehouse.

“Still fuming over Rep. Charlie Geren’s leading role on SB4 and worse yet his horrible comments about Rep Victoria Neave’s fast?” one person posted on Facebook.

“This is his business in FW,” the post read, showing a picture of the smokehouse. “Let’s do this: #SB4RailheadBoycott.”

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Fort Worth bishop among critics of ‘sanctuary cities’ bill."