Tensions up at Capitol ahead of ‘sanctuary debate
Dozens of activists are canvassing Capitol offices to make emotional pleas to lawmakers. Two Democratic legislators are fasting. Another Democrat said he had a routine bill shot down by Republicans on Tuesday in retaliation for fighting a procedural rule.
Tensions are high at the Capitol as legislators prepare for a House floor debate Wednesday that could be the final showdown over the bill to ban so-called sanctuary cities, jurisdictions that decline in some way to assist federal immigration enforcement. The bill has passed the Senate.
Dallas state Rep. Chris Turner, who chairs the House Democratic caucus, said Wednesday is “absolutely” the most important day for his caucus this legislative session.
“Our caucus represents the communities who are being targeted in this bill by and large,” Turner said. “We’re going to fight with every tool that we have.”
While Democrats, outnumbered 95-55 in the House, are unlikely to defeat Senate Bill 4, they will have unlimited opportunities to attempt to tweak it thanks to their victory Monday in a procedural skirmish over the rules for the debate on Wednesday.
Republicans had proposed limiting amendments to those filed ahead of time, which would have sped up the debate and allowed GOP lawmakers to prepare ways to shoot them down. The rule required a twothirds vote for approval, but Democrats stood together to defeat it.
Turner said that dust-up
Dallas state Rep. Chris Turner, who chairs the House Democratic caucus, said Wednesday is ‘absolutely’ the most important day for his caucus this legislative session.
was the reason why, on Tuesday, Republicans targeted an unrelated bill he authored that received bipartisan support in the past. The bill, which would have prohibited payday lenders from making telemarketing calls, was defeated 76-66.
The “sanctuary cities” bill, which was authored by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, and was listed as an “emergency item” by Gov. Greg Abbott at the beginning of the legislative session, would impose harsh financial penalties on police and sheriff ’s departments that adopt one of two types of sanctuary policies: restricting officers from inquiring about subjects’ immigration status or declining to honor all requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to extend the detention of county jail inmates suspected of being unauthorized immigrants to facilitate deportation proceedings.
A policy by Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez that limits the county jail’s cooperation with federal detainer requests to inmates suspected of having committed the most serious offenses has become a flashpoint in the debate. If the bill passes and Hernandez does not change the policy, the sheriff could become a target because the bill creates a criminal offense for agency heads of sanctuary jurisdictions.
While Rep. Charlie Geren, the Fort Worth Republican carrying the bill in the House, has limited the its scope, it is still anathema to immigration advocates who believe it will lead to racial profiling and to law enforcement officials from most of the state’s biggest cities who have said it will chill relationships between police and immigrant communities.
Reps. Victoria Neave and Ramon Romero Jr., both North Texas Democrats, are fasting in protest. Neave last ate Sunday morning when she received communion at mass in Dallas and has vowed to not eat until the debate ends on Wednesday. Romero, who sits next to her in the House, joined her this week.
“For me this is very spiritual,” Neave said. “This is very personal to me. I’m the daughter of an immigrant. My father came as an undocumented immigrant. He’s proud to be a citizen now. He’s proud to be an American.”
Asked to comment on Neave’s protest, Geren on Tuesday said, “I’m not doing that. I didn’t get to be a fat white boy by not eating,” and suggested he might delay the floor debate to lengthen her fast.
“What I need to do is postpone it a couple days and see how hungry she gets,” Geren said, adding that he was kidding.