A federal appeals court will be asked by the State of Texas today to allow enforcement of the law banning 'Sanctuary Cities' while a San Antonio federal judge is hearing arguments on the constitutionality of the law, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The law, technically known as SB 4, makes it a crime punishable by jail time and a $25,000 fine, for a local sheriff, police chief, or other official to refuse to cooperate with immigration officials in honoring what are called 'immigration detainers,' or requests to keep an individual in a county jail so ICE can pick up that person pursuant to deportation.
The law also allows, but does not require, local police officers to ask a person who is 'detained' for an incident as minor as a traffic ticket, about their immigration status, what has been mocked as the 'show me your papers' act.
Nina Perales of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, argued against SB 4 in federal court in San Antonio, and she is confident that the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will continue to block it."
A lot of very carefully placed community policing policies would be thrown out the window," she said.
In fact, police chiefs from around the state strongly urged lawmakers in the Regular Session not to approve SB 4, claiming it would poison their relationship with immigrant and minority communities. They argued that individuals would be unwilling to come forward to report crimes or provide key evidence if they were afraid that the officer could report them for being in the U.S. illegally.
Police and Sheriff's deputies also argued that their role is to enforce local laws, not to be an arm of federal law enforcement, and asked if the next step is to require officers to make sure that people pulled over for speeding have paid their federal income taxes.
James Dickey, the Chair of the Texas Republican Party, says the only thing the state is asking is for the right to enforce laws that citizens want.
"We think those elected officials who enforce the law, and those who report to them, who are sworn to enforce the law, actually enforce the law," he said.
Dickey is confident that the court will allow the law to be enforced, saying there is increasing push back against people who run into court challenging everything elected officials do as being 'unfair' or 'racist.'