Texas Senate committee weighs sanctuary city ban
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The Senate State Affairs committee meets Thursday beginning at 8:30 a.m., CST, to hear state Sen. Charles Perry's bill banning sanctuary cities and sanctuary college campuses in Texas.
A sanctuary city or campus is the general term for entities that do not comply with federal immigration law. Perry’s bill would punish local governments if county jails fail to honor requests, known as detainers, from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to hand over immigrants in custody for possible deportation. On Wednesday, Perry announced he had tweaked the bill to include college campuses in Texas as well.
On Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott designated the issue of sanctuary cities as an emergency, allowing lawmakers in both chambers to take up the issue faster. And on Wednesday, Abbott made good on his earlier threats and cut off state funding for Travis County over a new "sanctuary" policy implemented by Sheriff Sally Hernandez.
Hundreds are expected to testify on Senate Bill 4 at Thursday's committee hearing.
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