Wednesday, the Texas Senate passed the draconian Senate Bill 4, anti-immigrant legislation that has been referred to as an anti-sanctuary cities bill that in reality is a super-sized version of Arizona’s infamous and racist “show me your papers” law. Donald Trump ally and anti-immigrant Gov. Greg Abbott is gleefully readying to sign the bill within the next few weeks, “a big, immoral and racist mistake that generations of Texans will never forget,” says one organizer with immigrant rights group United We Dream:
SB 4 would levy steep fines on local governments and public universities that restrict local law enforcement agencies from honoring federal immigration-status "detainer" requests for people in custody, create criminal charges for local law enforcement chiefs who don't comply with detainer requests, and allow Abbott to remove locally elected and appointed officials who violate the ban. In an amendment added by the House, the bill would also allow law enforcement officers to ask about the immigration status of anybody they detain.
Yes, that includes asking the immigration status of anyone during things like traffic stops. Broken tail lights have already been leading to deportations of undocumented immigrants with no criminal record, and now the bill’s racist “show me your papers” provision stands to ramp up Trump’s mass deportation force by state-sanctioning the racial profiling of anyone who looks brown, no matter their immigration status. This is terrifying in a state where nearly 40 percent of the population is Latino, and frankly Trump and Abbott’s nativist dream come true.
“I’m afraid this legislation will lead to harassment and profiling of Latinos,” said Democratic state Sen. Sylvia Garcia. “This bill will go from a broken taillight to a broken family to broken faith in our system.” SB 4 “signals new era of hate in Texas,” declared one Daily Texan op-ed.
National and local groups have loudly condemned the racist provisions of the legislation, with nearly two dozen activists, including at least one priest, arrested after staging a sit-in at Abbott’s office on May Day. Seven local law enforcement chiefs and leaders have also signed their names onto an op-ed against the proposal, saying that SB 4 is “political pandering that will make our communities more dangerous ... this legislation is bad for Texas and will make our communities more dangerous for all.”
“We know that SB 4 is not about the will of the people—it is an attempt to expel Latino and immigrant families from the state,” said United We Dream leader Greisa Martinez following the Texas Senate approving the bill. “It is about hate and they will fail. We are #HereToStay and know that we’ll see the day where the great state of Texas will welcome all immigrants including me and my mother.”
Major provisions of Arizona’s infamous “show me your papers” were later declared unconstitutional, but not before “leading to the loss of $490 million in tourism revenue in a single year, along with the loss of 3,000 tourism-related jobs.” North Carolina also found out the hard way that bigotry doesn’t pay, with state residents left to deal with economic devastation. “Texas seems to be heading right into a similar storm,” noted America’s Voice. And, the blame should rest solely on the Republicans who passed it, and the one who will soon sign it into law.
“Get ready, Governor Abbott, for the legal challenges, economic boycotts and condemnation that your bill will bring on your state,” said immigrant rights leader Frank Sharry.
