House should put Senate’s sanctuary city bill to test
The Texas Senate has made short work out of passing a “sanctuary cities” bill — six days from testimony in a committee hearing to final passage on the Senate floor, and that included a three-day weekend hiatus.
That’s no surprise. Lt. Go v. Dan Patrick is a longtime sanctuary city opponent, and Gov. Greg Abbott named the legislation one of only four issues to be addressed as emergencies.
The bill faces a stronger test in the House, and it should. Somebody should be giving careful consideration to each provision in Senate Bill 4.
Legislation should not be steered willy-nilly by the nationwide fever over illegal immigration.
There’s no real definition of a sanctuary city. SB 4 addresses it in two broad ways.
First, it says no law enforcement agency should adopt a policy or consistent practice that hinders its officers or jailers from inquiring about a person’s immigration status.
Second, it says no such agency should free an arrested person who is the subject of a “detainer,” or hold request, from federal immigration officials.
There have been plenty of arguments about whether those are proper requirements, and they should be heard again in the House. They are the core of whether Texas should have a sanctuary city law at all.
The House should find out how much SB4 will cost. The Legislative Budget Board said it could not establish how much the bill would require local entities to spend, but Harris County (Houston) pegged its own cost at $5.2 million a year.
Legislators should consider whether the state should help pay that bill or get federal help.
SB 4 says any immigrant detainer request from federal authorities must be considered valid and obeyed — unless the person who is being held can prove they are a U.S. citizen. A similar exclusion should be allowed for persons who can prove they are lawful U.S. residents.
Finally, SB 4 would make any local agency or even state prisons that release a prisoner in violation of a federal detainer liable for damages that person might cause while they are on the loose.
Incredibly, SB 4 waives sovereign immunity protection against such lawsuits.
That means the released person could go back to their home country and cause havoc there, and Texas or a local agency could be sued for those damages. Not smart.
This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 8:17 PM with the headline "House should put Senate’s sanctuary city bill to test."