Texas Immigration Lawyer Blog

Waco Police Chief says SB 4 won't put Waco PD in immigration enforcement role

Waco Tribune Herald by J.B. Smith

 Waco Police Chief Ryan Holt says Texas’ new sanctuary cities law gives officers leeway to ask about immigration status, but he expects it will be rare and must be done with documentation justifying it.

 

 

Texas Sanctuary Cities law blocked temporarily

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia halted major portions of a controversial Texas "sanctuary cities" law scheduled to go into effect on September 1, 2017.  Judge Garcia granted a preliminary injunction of Senate Bill 4, that seeks to outlaw “sanctuary cities.” those that don’t enforce federal immigration laws. 

SB 4 allows local law enforcement officers to question the immigration status of people they detain or arrest and seeks to punish local government department heads and elected officials who don’t cooperate with federal immigration "detainers" — requests by agents to turn over immigrants subject to possible deportation. Punishment could come in the form of jail time and penalties that exceed $25,000.

Judge Garcia halted the part of the bill that required jail officials to honor all detainers, and another that prohibits “a pattern or practice that 'materially limits' the enforcement of immigration laws.” The detainer provision, he said, would violate the Fourth Amendment

Judge Garcia did let stand one of the most controversial portions of the law — allowing police officers to question the immigration status of people they detain. Because the inquiry into status isn’t a prolonged detention, he said, it wasn’t enjoined. But he explained that officers who make the inquiry are limited in what they can do with the information. “If during a lawful detention or arrest an officer obtains information that a detained or arrested individual is undocumented he may not arrest the individual on this basis,” he said, adding that the officer is not required to ask the question. But he said if the officer feels like they should, they can only share the information. “In sum, SB 4 gives local officers discretion to inquire and share information, but it does not provide them with discretion to act upon the information that they may obtain,” he wrote in a footnote to his 94-page ruling.

The bill was scheduled to go into effect Sept. 1, but opponents of the legislation, including the cities of Houston, Austin, San Antonio and El Cenizo, as well as Maverick and El Paso counties and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, argued the bill violates several provisions of the Constitution. Judge Garcia's decision means the bill is on hold until that issue is decided or until the preliminary injunction is appealed. 

The State of Texas plans to appeal the injunction to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

 

 

Know Your Rights in Texas: Preparing for SB 4

From Immigration Impact

After debate rocked the Texas State Capitol, Governor Greg Abbott signed the controversial Senate Bill 4 (SB4) in May, which purports to ban sanctuary city policies and gives local police the authority to inquire about the immigration status of anyone they detain. Though the law won’t go into effect until September, it’s crucial to know your rights now in relation to SB4.

SB4 allows police officers to question an individual’s immigration status during any and all detentions—even for something as simple as a traffic violation. The law also pushes local law enforcement to comply with federal requests to detain individuals and threatens them with fines, firing, and jail time if they don’t comply.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the cities of Austin, Dallas, El Cenzizo, and San Antonio are currently challenging the constitutionality of SB4, hoping to stop the legislation before it goes into effect. In addition, the American Immigration Lawyers Association recently pulled their major conference from the state, calling the law “unjust, unfair, and unreasonable.”

There is no doubt about the law’s anti-immigrant intent. It clearly encourages racial profiling, jeopardizes community safety, and puts law enforcement officials at risk of violating the constitution.

If SB4 goes into effect, it’s important the community understand their rights. To that end, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center provides these know your rights tips:

• You have the right to remain silent. You do not have to tell anyone your immigration status or place of birth.
• You have the right to not be stopped or detained without reasonable suspicion of a crime. If you fear that an officer has violated this right, try to record the incident and speak with an attorney.
• You have the right to not be discriminated against on the basis of your ethnicity, race, or national origin. This is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.
• You should contact an attorney for help if a school or school official asks about your immigration status, or the status of a parent or family member.
• Don’t sign anything you don’t understand, especially without an attorney present.
• Contact an attorney if you are held past your scheduled release time.

This anti-immigrant legislation hides behind the guise of public safety. Communities are safest when local governments determine how to deploy their law enforcement resources. SB4 goes in the opposite direction and will do nothing to build trust between immigrant communities and Texas law enforcement. Photo

Texas House committee advances "Sanctuary Cities Lite" bill

Texas Tribune by Julian Aguilar

The Texas House advanced their "Sanctuary Cities Lite" bill out of committee yesterday. Although less harsh than the Senate bill, it criminalizes heads of law enforcement agencies who do not cooperate with federal authorities, allows law enforcement to question arrestees about their immigration status, and includes college campuses in the enforcement requirements. 

Cops shouldn’t be in the immigration-enforcement business:

“It still creates a chilling effect for immigrants to work with local law enforcement, and it still perverts the mission of local law enforcement,” said state Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas. “You can be arrested for anything, virtually. It doesn’t require due process, it simply requires probable cause.”

A costly special session is likely this summer if a bill fails to pass as Governor Abbott has identified the legislation as a priority.

 

Trump's Executive Order: Extreme Interior Enforcement

Yesterday, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled "Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States."

Answer: Immigration x Trump + Kobach = Bad.* 

Increase enforcement against aliens without criminal convictions, authorize local law enforcement officers to act as immigration officers, hire more immigration officers, cut off funds to jurisdictions who decline to honor detainers or share information with ICE, bring back Secure Communities, make reports listing immigration status of all aliens imprisoned in the U.S., services for victims of crimes committed by removable aliens. 

The order instructs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to target "all removable aliens." It prioritizes aliens with any criminal conviction, charge or "who have committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense." This expands criminal aliens to include those charged (but not convicted) and those who have not been charged with a crime. To accomplish this, 10,000 additional immigration officers are to be hired. 

State and local law enforcement officers will be allowed to "perform the functions of immigration officers in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens." This amounts to a national "show me your papers" policy, allowing any law enforcement officer to ask for proof of immigration status, and leading to racial profiling.

The order also defines "sanctuary jurisdictions" as those who refuse or limit requesting, maintaining or exchanging information about immigration status. A list of jurisdictions that decline to honor detainers will be published weekly with a list of criminal actions committed in those jurisdictions by aliens. It also establishes an office to provide services to victims of crimes committed by removable aliens. 

The Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) is terminated and "Secure Communities" is reinstated, which means that any undocumented alien who is arrested will be placed in removal. The order also requires reports listing immigration status of all aliens imprisoned in the U.S.

Maybe the answer should be "Worse."* 

*See, The Mouse and His Child, Russell Hoban, Muskrat's "Us and Them Tables."

**Kris Kobach is an advisor to Mr. Trump on immigration. He is the Kansas Secretary of State and the author of the Arizona "show me your papers" law. 

 

 

Sanctuary Cities Bill introduced in Texas Legislature enables racial profiling

Last week, a Sanctuary Cities Bill was once again introduced in the Texas Legislature. Here is a link to an interview that I gave to Estephany Escobar of KXXV-TV. 

The Bill addresses sanctuary cities (which are not a problem in Texas), encourages "show me your papers" by local police, and requires law enforcement to investigate and record in files on criminal cases when someone is in the U.S. unlawfully.

Sanctuary Cities: 

"Sanctuary city" is a term frequently used for a broad range of situations from entities that refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to those who create a welcoming environments for immigrants. 

There are no cities in Texas that I am aware of who refuse to cooperate with ICE. Austin is frequently given as an example of a sanctuary city, but the Travis County jail releases individuals to ICE where there is a detainer (request to hold the individual for 48 hours after release from county custody).

Show Me Your Papers:

The bill prohibits policies that prevent law enforcement from inquiring about someone's immigration status. This has nothing to do with sanctuary cities and is a road to racial profiling.

Investigate/Record Requirement:

This requires an affirmative inquiry into the immigration status of each individual that is arrested or charged with a crime. If an individual does not have lawful status, it is to be noted in the file and reported to the judge in charge of the case. The only purpose that this serves is to encourage stiffer penalties for those who do not have lawful status. 

The introduction of this kind of legislation erodes the relationship between law enforcement and the immigrant community and hurts us all. 

In-state tuition for undocumented still the law in Texas

Attempts to change Texas Education Code §543.052 to exclude persons "not authorized under federal statute to be present in the United States" from being considered as Texas residents eligible to pay in-state tuition were not successful in the recent legislative session. 

The "sanctuary cities" bill also failed to make it to the governor's desk. 

Julian Aguilar in his Texas Tribune article quotes JoAnn Fleming, the executive director of Grassroots America, a conservative East Texas group, as saying “It’s beginning to look as if some of those [immigration] campaign promises are ‘all hat and no cattle.’” 

Texas immigration bills imperiled by time constraints, friction within GOP

Tom Benning of The Dallas Morning News reports that the immigration bills filed in Texas this legislative session "could fade away with a whimper." This excellent article examines the back story on these bills, and provides this summary:

AT A GLANCE: WHERE 3 KEY MEASURES STAND

1. Repeal of tuition law: Seeks to change the 2001 law that allows some students who are in the country illegally to pay college tuition at in-state rates.

Status: Out of Senate committee. May not have enough votes to be heard on Senate floor. No House committee hearing scheduled.

2. “Sanctuary cities” bill: Would bar local rules that prohibit police from asking the immigration status of people they stop.

Status: Out of Senate committee. May not have enough votes to be heard on Senate floor. No House committee hearing scheduled.

3. Interstate border security compact: Would potentially allow Texas and other states to enforce federal immigration laws — and perhaps to create their own border security force.

Status: Out of Senate committee. Prospects in full Senate unclear. No House committee hearing scheduled.

Texas Tea Party Plans Immigration Rally Thursday in Austin

KWTX.com

AUSTIN (October 13, 2011)--A coalition of Texas tea party supporters is calling on Gov. Rick Perry to revive legislation that gives police broader powers to ask people they detain about their citizenship status.

* * *

Tea Party activists have called an Austin news conference Thursday to again express their frustration.

Texas Tea Party "Fed Up" with Perry on Immigration

Texas Tribune by Jay Root

Tea Party leaders confronted Rick Perry in his own back yard Monday, calling on him to use his power as Texas governor to crack down on illegal immigration.

The activists, representing Tea Party groups from around the state, want Perry to either sign an executive order or call the Legislature back into a special session to enact a ban on so-called sanctuary cities. They also want him to eliminate a policy that they say discourages the state police from enforcing federal immigration laws.

After holding a press conference about it at the Capitol, the group delivered petitions from more than 3,000 Texans who want the governor to act now.

"Gov. Perry needs to clarify his position on illegal immigration, and he needs to come back to Texas and to finish the people's unfinished business," said JoAnn Fleming, chair of the Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee of the Texas Legislature. "The ball is in Gov. Perry's court. He needs to make a decision. He's running out of time."

In mocking tones, Fleming threw Perry's signature phrase "fed up" — the title of his Washington-bashing book — right back at the governor. "We're fed up, too, Gov. Perry, and we're ready for you to take care of this issue," she said.