There is plenty of unity at the national convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens, which opened today in San Antonio, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
All 20,000 delegates are united against SB 4, the new Texas law that bans so called 'Sanctuary Cities.'
LULAC CEO Brent Wilkes says the convention has numerous panels, discussions, and calls for action about SB 4. He says he is baffled about how a law like this came to be approved in a state like Texas, which has had a 170 year history of cooperation between native residents and immigrants.
"This is where the Alamo is, this is where the Tejanos and Texans were working together for many years," he said. "Now you have a situation where people are pitting us against each other, and why?"
LULAC is one of the leaders of the legal fight against SB 4, which was heard in San Antonio last week.
Wilkes rejects claims that because the last letter of 'LULAC' stands for 'Citizens,' members of the organization won't have to worry about SB 4 because it only cracks down on people in the country illegally
."How are they going to think you are here illegally," he asked. "It is going to be how you look, and what language you speak."
He blasted the segment of the law called 'show me your papers,' which allows police officers to question individuals about their legal status, and calls for jail time and fines for public officials who don't vigorously enforce the law.
"This is divisiveness," he said. "It is ripping apart the state, it is pitting different citizens of different ethnicities against each other, and that doesn't make any sense. The state should be trying to unify us, because we all want the same thing."
Wilkes says a law like this would 'not have been passed' under the George W. Bush or Rick Perry administrations.