Maverick County Commissioners Court Approve To Join Federal Lawsuit Against Texas Senate Bill 4 “Sanctuary” Cities
By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2017
Maverick County Commissioners Court unanimously approved to join as a party the federal lawsuit against the State of Texas filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, in San Antonio, Texas, challenging the constitutionality of the newly enacted controversial Texas Senate Bill 4 “Sanctuaries” Cities at its Special Meeting held on Monday, May 22, 2017.
Maverick County now joins Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber and Constable Precinct 3-AB Mario A. Hernandez as Plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of Texas’ SB 4 “Sanctuary” Cities which requires city, county, and college police departments and/or law enforcement agencies to inquire and enforce every individual’s legal immigration status in the United States upon contact with them while performing their duties. SB 4 “Sanctuaries” City law is scheduled to take effect on September 1, 2017 in Texas after it was signed into law by Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Representing Maverick County in the federal lawsuit will be San Antonio, Texas attorney Luis Vera, who also is Maverick County’s General Civil Counsel as well as legal counsel for Sheriff Tom Schmerber, Constable Mario A. Hernandez, City of El Cenizo, Texas, El Cenizo Mayor Raul L. Reyes, and League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in the federal lawsuit.
Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber stated that his Sheriff’s Department does not have the proper training required to enforce the United States immigration laws, the funding required to take on the enforcement of federal immigration laws, the additional personnel required to enforce the federal immigration laws, the extra jail space required for enforcing the federal immigration laws, and community trust and cooperation with the Sheriff’s Department will be diminished as county residents will be afraid of having themselves or family members being arrested and deported while attempting to report crimes against themselves or in the community.
The new Texas SB 4 “Sanctuaries” Law will also cause racial profiling and discrimination against Latinos, African-Americans, minorities, and people who are not Anglo-Caucasian by city, county, and college law enforcement agencies.
The controversial SB 4 “Sanctuaries” City law was approved by the Texas Republican-majority Senate and House of Representatives and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on May 7, 2017 as a wave of anti-immigrant and discriminatory legislative measures against Latinos, African-Americans, minorities, and non-Anglo-Caucasians have been enacted by the Texas Republican-majority legislature. Disguised as a law enforcement measure, the new SB 4 “Sanctuaries” City law seeks to detain, arrest, deport, and discriminate against non-Anglo-Caucasian Texans based on the color of their skin, national origin, or ethnicity.
Texas civil rights groups, immigrant community, and minorities allege that SB 4 “Sanctuary” Cities law is another Republican Party attack on the growing Latino, African-American, minority, and immigrant demographic change and rising political and economic clout of these groups in Texas such as other state-discriminatory laws as the Voter ID, state and federal re-districting, straight party voting, and educational funding inequality.
Texas city, county, and law enforcement agencies overwhelmingly oppose being required to enforce federal immigration laws when they are already pre-empted by federal law from doing so and the United States Department of Homeland Security is already properly funded, equipped, and prepared to enforce the country’s immigration laws.
The County of El Paso, Texas also approved to file a federal lawsuit against Texas SB 4 “Sanctuaries” City law in San Antonio, Texas as other cities and counties are expected to similarly file their own federal lawsuits against this alleged racist and discriminatory state law disguised as a law and order measure by Texas Republicans.
