Blue cities across the country are pledging to defy President Trump's mass deportation effort, and now some leaders want to step in before Texas Democrats get the same idea. State Rep. Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth) has filed House Bill 1491, which requires each county in Texas to enter a cooperation agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In a statement, Schatzline calls HB 1491 "pivotal legislation to help our future border czar, Tom Homan."
Homan has called out Democrats threatening to resist Trump deportations, noting they would be in violation of federal law for harboring and shielding criminals from arrest. Mark H. Metcalf, former federal immigration judge and now Kentucky State Treasurer, says Texas would be on solid legal ground with this law. "There is no area in federal law in which the federal government is more supreme than in the area of immigration," he tells KTRH. "In this case, what the Texas Legislature is being asked to do is tell local jurisdictions you will faithfully execute immigration law within Texas."
Under HB 1491, any county that fails to cooperate with ICE could be sued by the Texas attorney general and lose state funding. Metcalf notes that those state punishments would be in addition to potential action under federal law. "Local law enforcement, like sheriff's offices and city police, would be required to (enforce federal law)," he says. "And there's really no reason for them to resist, unless they want to be held accountable by a U.S. Attorney's office for failing to enforce the law."
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