Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff is laughing off comments from the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who wants the Justice Department to lock up the political leaders in so-called sanctuary cities, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"We're in a toxic situation in Washington D.C.," he tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI. "Some of the language and words that are coming out are things I've never seen before."
Speaking to Fox News, Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan railed against cities that refuse to hold undocumented migrants who are found in jails. He suggested that sanctuary cities are violating the federal government's alien smuggling statute.
"I have asked the Department of Justice to look at this....That's certainly an angle we're looking at," Homen said. "We need to hold these politicians accountable for their actions. We got to take them to court. And we got to start charging some of these politicians with crimes."
That would put San Antonio and Bexar County leaders like Wolff in a precarious spot. They're currently suing the state of Texas over the newly-signed sanctuary city law. But Wolff says they've met with federal law enforcement agencies, and stressed that they're in compliance.
"We do share all information with them," he says.
The current legal clash is, instead, over the part of the state law that allows cops to ask a person their immigration status. Homen has been criticized by immigration rights groups, which claim he's overstepping his authority by targeting migrants in places like courthouses.
He's defended the strategy, saying that secure locations make it safe for their agents.
"We're going to enforce the law without apology," Homan said Tuesday interview with Fox News.