85th Legislative Session: SB4

Since the beginning of Texas’ 85th Legislative Session, emotions have been running high in the State Capitol; Senators and Representatives alike have been scrambling to gather their justifications for any given political storm they’ve been most recently caught in. Another late night session continued Wednesday until a final decision on Senate Bill 4 could be reached at around 3 A.M. after tears had been shed and words of reflection had been imparted by various Democratic Senators. The controversial bill would essentially eliminate and cripple “Sanctuary cities” in Texas and would allow a “Show-me-your-papers” ruling to guide the Texas police force in ridding Texas of undocumented people. The latter was added after Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) offered the amendment to include language about status inquiries not only limited to lawful arrests but detainment as well. In an attempt to dissuade her fellow Republican Representatives from affirming the amendment, Rep. Ana Hernandez (D-Houston) recounted her childhood living in fear of being caught in an immigration raid at school. Her detailed personal account of how her life in the U.S. was at stake and how a bill like SB4 would have potentially affected her in the past as well was not isolated as others like Rep. Gene Wu, Rep. Mary Gonzalez, and Rep. Harold Dutton shared their experiences as well.

Sanctuary cities have been extensively debated in the past. Most recently in San Francisco, Judge William H. Orrick of the United States District Court wrote that President Trump overstepped his powers with his January executive order which attempted to starve localities of federal funds when cooperation with immigration enforcement, such as ICE, was limited. This creates a discrepancy in the passage of SB4 because it would directly challenge Judge Orrick’s ruling. Eventually, these issues will all be hashed out in Senate and by Gov. Greg Abbott as the bill enters the final stages of being passed as a law. More importantly for daily life, the practical issues arisen by this controversial bill affect the implications for law enforcement officers including how the protection and service of everyone can be most adequately satisfied if any particular hue or spoken language is targeted in the community.