Acevedo blasts SB4, supports Dreamers’ path
Police chief recalls Las Vegas shooting in criticism of law
WASHINGTON — Police Chief Art Acevedo, speaking Thursday at a national immigration forum, blasted Texas’ new anti-sanctuary cities law, known as “SB4,” that allows police officers to question the immigration status of people they detain.
“It is so counter-intuitive, counterproductive,” Acevedo said in remarks that recalled Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas that took the lives of at least 58 people as well as the gunman.
“When you have millions of victims and witnesses of crime that you’re pushing back into the shadows, people who might know about a guy who’s going crazy and might shoot up 20,000 concertgoers, and they’re afraid to come forward,” he said. “How is that a public safety measure? It’s a real problem.”
Acevedo delivered his remarks at a conference of the National Immigration Forum, a group that has sought to rally moderates and conservatives to a “center-right” consensus on immigration reform.
The conference also marked Thursday’s deadline for so-called
Dreamers to reapply for legal status under former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which President Donald Trump is phasing out.
As lawmakers in Congress look for a way to continue legal protections for young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children, Acevedo called for compromise.
While some immigration activists have held out for a path to full citizenship for Dreamers or their family members, Acevedo called for a compromise on legal status.
“What they want is legitimacy,” he said. “Their kids will be able to vote all they want. So it’s got to be a give and take. It can’t be all or nothing.”
Houston’s priorities
Acevedo, an outspoken critic of SB4, a law aimed at so-called sanctuary cities, said Houston continues to work with its federal partners in combating gang violence and crime, including requests by federal authorities to hold suspected immigration violators 48 hours past their legal release times.
Last month a federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled in a legal challenge to the 2017 law that parts of the sanctuary cities ban can go into effect, overruling a lower court ruling that had blocked it.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said the state can enforce a section of the law that says police executives cannot stop their employees from assisting federal immigration agents.
The judges also said the state can make jails comply with immigration “detainers” — requests from federal officials to hold people in their custody for immigration authorities.
In an interview, Acevedo said his department has received only five detainer requests so far this year from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
Meanwhile, he said, while SB4 prevents law enforcement executives from telling officers they can’t ask people they’ve detained about their immigration status, the law still affords protections to victims or witness to crime.
Despite the restrictions of SB4, which critics have dubbed the “show me your papers” law, Acevedo said he is keeping the department squarely focused on law enforcement.
“Trust me when I say I will manage my own work force,” he said. “The Legislature is not going to decide the priorities of the people of Houston, or of the Houston Police Department. Our priorities will be based on what our local community wants. And what they want is, we have 20,000 documented gang members. They want to make sure we keep those people in gangs in check.”
“We had 302 homicides last year,” Acevedo continued. “They want us to do everything we can to reduce that number and save lives. What they want is when they call 911 because someone is breaking in and they’re hiding in their closet, we get there in a matter of a minute or two, not 10 ,15, or 20 minutes because an under-resourced, under-staffed police department is busy booking a day laborer at Home Depot. That’s not the priority of the people we serve.”
He said Mayor Sylvester Turner, “appropriately, wants us to focus on crime, not be ICE agents.”
‘Undocumented, unafraid’
In Houston, about three dozen protesters rallied in front of Republican Sen. John Cornyn’s local office Thursday, chanting and holding signs asking Congress to pass legislation protecting young immigrants who are here illegally.
“Undocumented, unafraid,” they yelled.
Francisco Martinez, 26, wore a cap and gown to illustrate that many so-called “Dreamers,” as they are known after failed legislation of the same name, are students and professionals who contribute greatly to American society.
“We’re not here as bad people,” Martinez said. “We came here to study, to work, to provide.”
He came here from Mexico when he was 10, and the temporary work permit he received in 2012 under a program launched by former President Obama allowed him to get a driver’s license, buy a car, go to university and have a professional job.
“Everything just changed,” he said.
Martinez said the permit allowed him to start working with CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate company, where he makes about $3,500 a month. The company is helping him obtain his building engineer qualification. His salary, far more than if he was working without documents, has allowed him to support his mother, who is here illegally and a cook at a restaurant.
He pays taxes and has saved enough money to last year buy a $160,000 house just north of downtown. His wife, an American citizen, stays home to look after their 1-year-old daughter. The administration’s decision to end the program was “just heartbreaking,” he said.
“I felt like I was doing everything right and now everything is so uncertain,” he said.
‘Willing to fight’
Oscar Hernandez, an organizer with Houston’s chapter of United We Dream, the country’s largest immigrant youth organization, said protests were nationwide Thursday and expected to ramp up in the coming weeks.
“We want to make sure that this isn’t the end of DACA, but this is the start of our fight for the Dream Act,” he said. “The administration’s attempt to scare our community hasn’t worked. More people are willing to fight.”
Rev. Philip Wilhite, a pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe, said he came to the protest with about 15 other parish members to show their support for legislation protecting young immigrants. About 60 percent of his congregation is Hispanic, and includes many with DACA permits.
“They’ve come over innocently,” he said. “I’ve seen the differences they make in this country.”