Texas Police and SB 4

https://theintercept.com/2017/08/03/texas-police-say-sb4-is-damaging-public-safety-before-even-taking-effect/

Should Organizations Boycott Texas? SB 4.

To Boycott or not to Boycott Texas that is the Question?

By WCVI President Antonio Gonzalez

Twitter: @agonzalez1217

Texas' SB4 the "show me your papers" bill was signed into law on May 7 by Republican Gov. Abbott. On Sept 1, 2017 SB4 will take effect outlawing local "Sanctuary Cities" policies embraced by places like Dallas and Travis Counties. SB4 obligates local cities to spend local funds to cooperate with certain federal immigration enforcement policies; it also obligates local police to operate de-facto as immigration agents on the streets virtually guaranteeing the likelihood of racial profiling of some part of the 10 million US citizen Latinos who call Texas home.

The fight against SB4 mobilized Latino community and immigrant activists, local governments and the mostly Mexican American democratic caucus of the Texas legislature. But alas Texas' Republican-dominated state government has morphed from a business-friendly bipartisan regime to Tea-Party extremism since 2010, as extremist-Republicans have defeated common-sense legislative Republicans in four conservative primary seasons. Thus, Latinos and their allies had little chance to stop SB4 though they put up a good fight.

The question for Latino and immigrant leaders and organizations now is what to do?  Groups like ACLU and MALDEF have sued to enjoin the law from taking place on Sept 1. But given the givens of anti-immigrant ideologues in control in the White House, Congress, and now the Supreme Court it seems likely that SB4 will prevail, for now.

Call Your Assemblyperson. Pass SB 54

You've been making your voices heard in the debate over SB 54, the California Values Act, and the Assembly has been listening. The California Values Act cleared another major hurdle last week when it passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee with overwhelming support. Our calling campaign has been going on for five months, and we have the momentum to pass SB 54 into law. We have to keep the pressure on.

SB 54 still has to pass the Assembly Judiciary Committee before it comes to a full vote.

If you live in the Sacramento region, call Assemblyperson Jim Cooper (Elk Grove) (916) 319-2009  and Assembly person Ken Cooley, (suburban Sacramento) (916) 319-2008. . Jim Cooper is a co sponsor of the bill. Insist that there not be further weakening amendments to the bill. 

See posts below for more information. 

 Until that happens and the bill passes, we need to continue to make clear our demands for protection for our immigrant friends, neighbors, and family members. Our broken and severely outdated immigration system criminalizes immigrant communities that contribute greatly to the great state of California, and to our country as a whole. This harsh, punitive system allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to separate, detain, and deport hard working people—and local and state resources are devoted to helping ICE do just that.

That's not who we are. We need to stop ICE and their abusive attacks on our immigrant communities and give sanctuary to the millions of immigrants who call this country home. Please call your Assemblyperson and tell them to support SB 54, the California Values Act. With enough of us working together, we can continue leading for the country and provide sanctuary in California to protect our immigrant communities.

Help Pass the California Sanctuary Bill SB 54

Sacramento area Assemblymen Cooper and Cooley are not reliable votes yet. 

Your phone calls have made the difference in getting SB 54, the California Values Act, through the Senate to the Assembly. This campaign has serious momentum, and we're ready for the next step. The Assembly Public Safety Committee is holding a hearing on SB 54 this Tuesday, and our next task is making sure it passes the committee vote.

The California Values Act gives sanctuary to undocumented California residents and their families by prohibiting state or local law enforcement cooperation with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. ICE has made communities less safe, not more. When undocumented people are so scared of being detained or deported that they won't report serious crimes that our law enforcement should be dealing with, we all suffer.

SB 54 protects our neighbors from detention and deportation, and makes communities safer as a whole by allowing law enforcement to focus on crimes that actually endanger people. Please call your assemblyperson today and get their support for SB 54, the California Values Act.

The need for immigration reform predates Donald Trump's presidency, but ever since he took office our immigrant communities have been put in even greater danger. No undocumented person is immune from detention or deportation. There is no regard for their job, family, time lived in this country, or even children who are American citizens. It is our duty to take action, and California's to lead on making a home for our beloved immigrant communities when the federal government won't. That's what this campaign is about.

Lulac, ACLU, Sue to block Texas SB 4

ACLU MOVES TO BLOCK SB4: The American Civil Liberties Union filed a preliminary injunction Monday to block a Texas law against so-called "sanctuary cities." The ACLU, along with the City of Cenizo and the League of United Latin American Citizens, filed suit in a federal court in San Antonio to prevent the measure from taking effect on September 1. Under SB4, state and local law enforcement officers will be empowered to ask about immigration status during routine encounters and police chiefs could face fines for a refusal to enforce immigration laws, among other provisions. Read the filing here and a memorandum in support here.

Protesters fill the Texas House gallery Against Senate Bill 4

Inmigrantes entregan miles de firmas para rechazar la ley antisantuario ...

MALDEF on Texas SB 4.

"SB 4 is nothing short of a legal, political and fiscal disaster for Texas. Forcing police chiefs and sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration officials will only foster distrust and suspicion between law enforcement and Latinos. MALDEF will not stand idle while the state tacitly encourages racial profiling and discrimination. We pledge our support for the immigrant community and will fight this unconscionable attack on their rights in court."

"Many things in Texas are big, such as the colossal blunder of SB 4. With a stroke of his pen, Governor Abbott has undermined democracy and voters' right to choose their elected officials, alienated nearly half the state population now subject to widespread racial profiling, severely undermined public safety by triggering widespread non-cooperation with police investigations of real crime, subjected Texas businesses tied to trade or tourism to incalculable losses, and exposed the state's taxpayers to substantial costs related to multiple statewide and local challenges to this inhumane law. Given the size of the state, this may well be the most costly gubernatorial signature in all of United States history.

Many things in Texas are also small, such as the hearts and minds of the elected leaders who cravenly championed this wholly execrable legislation.

MALDEF will do its level best, in court and out, to restore Texas, the state where MALDEF was founded, to its greater glory, and to help Texas to overcome 'Abbott’s Folly'."


Current population data indicate that 44 percent of the total Texas population is Latino, Asian American, or Arab American; even more striking is that nearly 54 percent of Texans under the age of 18 fall within one of these three groups. These are the population groups who would be subject to widespread police profiling and harassment as a result of SB 4. Add in African Americans, an additional 11.5 percent of the Texas population, who already face widespread racial profiling that could be exacerbated by the permission to profile extended in SB 4, and we are talking about a majority of all Texans and nearly two-thirds of Texas minors.  

MALDEF urges Governor Greg Abbott to reject this invitation to discriminate against over half his state’s population and to sow broad mistrust of law enforcement among two-thirds of the state’s future workforce.

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Founded in 1968, MALDEF is the nation's leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the "Latino Legal Voice for Civil Rights in America" MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights, and political access. For more information on MALDEF, please visit: www.maldef.org.

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