Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is pressuring lawmakers to pass anti-sanctuary city legislation following a report from ICE which called out Travis County specifically.
Homeland Security found the Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez during one week earlier this year, declined federal detainers for 128 criminal aliens charged with everything from rape, aggravated assault, domestic violence and robbery.
“She's playing with fire and the cost is the public safety of the individuals that becomes victimized from it,” says state Sen. Charles Perry who introduced SB 4, which would punish elected officials who do not follow federal immigration laws.
Sheriff Hernandez was not available for comment, but did issue a press release in response to the ICE report.
“They have someone who obviously has no regard for safety, its inconcsionable and unexplainable,” Perry said of Travis County. “She's disputing the report, so let's just say its off by 10 percent, that's still over 100 in a week being released.”
Perry's bill cleared the Texas Senate and now awaits a committee hearing in the House.
“As it went over from the Senate there was criminal penalties in there for her, there's civil sovereignty removal for the jurisdiction, and then there's civil penalties for the jurisdiction itself,” he says.
Perry expects SB 4 will be on the governor's desk within a month.