Some local officials in Texas cheer Trump’s immigration crackdown, others sound cautious note

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The Trump administration this week directed federal prosecutors across the country to investigate and potentially prosecute local officials who get in the way of its immigration crackdown.

It is not clear if any will get in the way in Texas.

Local officials across the state who are eager to help the administration’s immigration efforts have not offered concrete details about how they will cooperate with the federal government. And officials in the state’s Democratic cities — where the majority of the state’s undocumented population live and work — have not said much at all.

Immigrant rights advocacy groups and legal experts say the Trump administration’s threat Wednesday to prosecute local officials has no legal backing and is simply an attempt to intimidate local jurisdictions into helping with the mass deportations Trump promised during his presidential campaign.

“The Constitution and our laws are clear: The federal government cannot bully state officials into carrying out deportations, nor can they punish them for declining,” said Deirdre Schifeling, the American Civil Liberties Union's chief political and advocacy officer.

The directive was among a flurry of executive actions Trump took this week. The administration also cut off access to an app that thousands of migrants used to make appointments to request asylum; promoted more cooperation between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local and state governments; and threw out policies that stopped authorities from arresting migrants at sensitive locations like schools and churches.

In Texas, some officials said they are ready to help Trump — but did not specify what that means. Among them is Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, the top elected official in the 15th largest county in the country.

Nearly two decades ago as a city council member in Farmers Branch, a city in neighboring Dallas County, O’Hare tried to ban landlords from renting to anyone who lacked proof of citizenship. The ordinance was repeatedly struck down by federal judges and the city stopped defending it in 2014 after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the city. The lawsuits over the policy, which was never enforced, cost the town $6.6 million.

O’Hare said he “fully supports” Trump’s agenda and trusts the president’s political advisers “to successfully address the massive crisis we have at our border,” his chief of staff Ruth Ray said.

“Tarrant County is committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring the safety and security of its residents,” Ray said. “Tarrant County will fully and unequivocally support law and order and the enforcement of American immigration laws.”

Galveston County Judge Mark Henry noted that his county was the only one not located along the border to deploy deputies to help the state’s Operation Lone Star border enforcement program.

“Galveston County will collaborate and work fully with the Trump Administration on immigration enforcement and securing our southern border,” Henry said in a statement just before Trump’s inauguration.

In the state’s Democrat-led cities, officials stopped short of a full-throated condemnation of Trump’s new initiatives.

Spokespersons for the sheriffs in Bexar, Travis and Dallas counties — home to the state’s other largest metros — vowed to abide by state and federal laws and continue serving all of their residents.

“We are dedicated to public safety and law enforcement,” Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez said. “We offer top-level professional care to anyone in need of our services. We want victims to run to our agency in a crisis, not run away.“

El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said he would stand by his commitment to safety for all and that everyone should feel safe going to school, churches and hospitals.

“Public safety is best served when every resident feels safe and protected,” he said.

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare echoed the sentiment.

“Nothing about the rhetoric out of Washington will undermine my mission: Fighting for all crime survivors in our community,” Teare said in a statement provided by a spokesperson. “Any policy that makes victims of violent crime, such as domestic violence or aggravated robbery, less likely to contact law enforcement out of fear of legal retribution, should be reexamined.”

Texas cities that were accused of protecting undocumented immigrants through so-called “sanctuary” policies — such as directing local police not to cooperate with federal immigration officials — became the targets of a 2017 state law that prohibited local policies that prevent a peace officer from asking about a person's immigration status. The law also requires that Texas authorities cooperate with federal immigration authorities.