Texas governor signs ‘sanctuary cities’ ban on Facebook, without prior notice

Texas Governor Greg Abbott took to Facebook for a live signing of a “sanctuary cities” ban. Abbott gave no public notice for his action despite protests against similar bills in several US cities.

In an unusual step, Texas Governor Greg Abbott took to Facebook for a live singing of the sanctuary cities bill. There was no public notice about the singing of the new law which requires local government entities and law enforcement officials to comply with federal immigration laws and detainer requests, and creates criminal penalties for entities that do not enforce the law.

“As Governor, my top priority is public safety, and this bill furthers that objective by keeping dangerous criminals off our streets,” said Governor Abbott in a statement released after the live signing.  “It’s inexcusable to release individuals from jail that have been charged with heinous crimes like sexual assault against minors, domestic violence and robbery. There are deadly consequences to not enforcing the law, and Texas has now become a state where those practices are not tolerated. With this bill we are doing away with those that seek to promote lawlessness in Texas.”

According to the new laws, those that do not comply could face civil penalties of up to $25,500 for each day of the violation. Sheriffs, chiefs of police or constables who fail to comply risk a class A misdemeanor while any elected or appointed official can be removed form office if they ignore the federal legislation.

The Senate bill signed by Abbott will go into effect on September 1, 2017.

Donald Trump has also spoken out against sanctuary cities saying that he will withhold federal funding form cities that harbor illegal immigrants. The proposition was deemed unconstitutional and several US mayors came out in defense of protecting the immigrant community.The mayors stated that all violent offenders are turned over to ICE but authorities will not act against those that have only committed misdemeanors.

Also, law enforcement officials stated that crime reports could go down as immigrants will fail to call the police or offer testimonies for fear of deportation.

Protesters took to the streets in several US cities, in sing of protest towards the new administration’s views of immigration and sanctuary cities.

According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a report released by Harvard Law School’s Fair Punishment Project, the Immigrant Defense Project, and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center urges city and county leaders who want to protect immigrants “to act swiftly to end harmful criminal justice practices that criminalize poverty and send undocumented residents into the deportation pipeline.”