Gov. Greg Abbott isn't messing around when he vows to 'abolish Sanctuary Cities' in Texas, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Less than 24 hours after vowing in his State of the State Speech that 'this will be the year that Sanctuary Cities are finally outlawed,' the Governor's office cancelled $1.5 million in grants and contracts with the Travis County Sheriff's office.
New Sheriff Sally Hernandez, who was elected in November and took office January 1, has initiated 'sanctuary style' policies in the Travis County Jail, including not honoring ICE detainer requests in most cases.
Abbott's office says more grants from his 'discretionary' accounts will be frozen or cancelled, and he has asked the Legislature to pass a bill allowing all state funds to be denied to 'Sanctuary' cities and counties.
The City of San Antonio has stressed it is not a 'Sanctuary City' although local police officers don't ask people they come into contact with about their immigration status.
Police officials have said that erodes community confidence in the police, and benefits criminals by allowing predators to go free because witnesses and victims won't speak up for fear of being deported.
This raises questions about what, exactly, consitutes a 'Sanctuary City.'
State or federal law, for example, does not require county sheriff's like Travis County's Hernandez to respond to 'detainer' requests, which frequently are requests to conduct more investigation into a person's immigration status, and don't have the legal force of a warrant.
WOAI IMAGE