Though funding for the border wall has been put on hiatus, much needed immigration reform is taking shape.
The crackdown on sanctuary cities has begun, and Democratic opposition is struggling to form a compelling narrative against it.
Texas took a daring first step, which the left has somehow perverted into an unconscionable act.
Texas has pledged to enforce actual federal law, rankling the feathers of Democrats.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker claims it’s the responsibility of the Feds to know the immigration status of local criminals who are caught (and released), but fails to acknowledge the difficulty of doing so without cooperation from local law enforcement, which the Texas bill aims to promote.
From FOX News:
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB-4 into law in a Facebook Live event Sunday evening, effectively banning sanctuary city policies in Texas and giving law enforcement officers the right to ask the immigration status of anyone they stop. Under the law, officers who fail to comply, or cooperate, with federal immigration agents could face jail time and fines reaching $25,000 per day.
“I was proud last night to sign this law … What it means is that no county, no city, no governmental body in the state of Texas can adopt any policy that provides sanctuary, and second, what it means, is that law enforcement officials, such as sheriffs, are going to be required to comply with ICE detainer requests,” Abbott said on “Fox & Friends” on Monday.
He added, “Isn’t this quasi-insane that we have to pass a law to force law enforcement officers to comply with the law?”
Abbott’s rhetorical question highlights the problems of the opposition to the law, which are illogical at best, and disingenuous at worst.
Opponents of the law claim it will silence immigrants (both legal and illegal) from reporting crimes for fear of deportation, thus increasing violent crime. However, this assumes illegal aliens report crimes at a high rate, which isn’t supported by any data.
In fact, Bill Clinton’s 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act lowered the criminal activity of the ruthless MS-13 street gang, which is mostly comprised of illegal aliens and the children of illegal aliens; the Texas Department of Public Safety labeled MS-13 a Tier-1 threat.
The opposition to the bill also ignores that illegal aliens are matter-of-factly breaking immigration law. As Trump’s tough immigration rhetoric has caused a precipitous decline in illegal immigration, this law could similarly pose as a strong deterrent to crime.
As a result of the bill, the ACLU issued a “travel alert” for the state of Texas, which poses the question: Why should any American citizen fear traveling in Texas?
From CNN:
Kevin Lawrence, executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association, says the debate over sanctuary cities has been overpoliticized on both ends, and while SB4 provides the state’s police with a needed resource, it does not mean officers will be pulling over people for driving while brown.
“Law enforcement needs to be able to service the communities we serve, whether they’re legal or not. We don’t want them scared,” he said. “It’s not good police work for us to go out checking everyone’s immigration status all day, every day. We do when we need to, but not as a matter of course.”
The TMPA supports the law, he said, because it prohibits city councils and county commissions from passing local laws that prohibit policemen for enforcing the law or “threaten (officers’) jobs if they do their jobs.”
Such was the case in February when a Travis County law went into effect restricting law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials, prompting Abbott to deny the county $1.5 million in grants. Travis County is the only jurisdiction in the state with such a law.
People on the left are running out of ways to obscure the fact they want open borders because of the influx of voters who pull the lever in their favor 8-to-2.
Early results on the new immigration tack suggest common sense is winning out.