Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner wants the city to join the suit against Texas' sanctuary city ban. The mayor tweeted Thursday he's going to ask City Council to get involved in court action on whether the ban is constitutional.
However, at least one council member is not so sure about it.
“I just don't think we ought to be filing lawsuits everywhere we go, its totally rediculous, I'm in favor of doing the right thing,” which Council Member Jack Christie believes HPD is doing already.
“We've got a great police force of every different color you can imagine and they're doing the right thing,” he says. “If we had that one case where they did the wrong thing, you'd file a complaint and most likely that officer will be fired.”
SB 4 allows law enforcement to ask about the legal status of any immigrant lawfully arrested or detained. The bill also prevents cities from allowing their police departments from adopting policies that forbid asking about legal status.
San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas are also involved in the suit.
“I don't think we should look at political implications or fines, or anything like that,” says Christie. “We should just do the right thing and that is be against racial profiling, and be fair to everyone that comes to this city because this is a great city and we don't do those things.”
A hearing is set for the preliminary injunction filed by the city of El Cenizo against the state of Texas to stop SB 4 from taking effect on Sept. 1.