Sanctuary Cities Will ‘No Longer Be Tolerated’ in Texas, Says Governor Abbott

26 Oct, 2015 by Liber-T

Print this article Font size -16+

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has vowed to put an end to “sanctuary cities” for illegal aliens in his state.

Abbott made a statement in response to Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez stating that she would consider honoring immigrant detainers on a “case by case” basis.

In a letter to Valdez, Abbott wrote, “’Sanctuary City’ policies like those promoted by your recent decision to implement your own case-by-case immigrant detention plan will no longer be tolerated in Texas. Your decision to not fully honor U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) requests to detain criminal immigrants poses a serious danger to Texans. These detainers provide ICE with the critical notice and time it needs to take incarcerated immigrants into federal custody.”

He continued, “Your refusal to fully participate in a federal law enforcement program intended to keep dangerous criminals off the streets leaves the State no choice but to take whatever actions are necessary to protect our fellow Texans. Now more than ever, it is essential that state, federal, and local law enforcement work collaboratively to protect our fellow Texans and to ensure that our laws are upheld, not disregarded.”

Breitbart Texas reported:

The governor laid out actions he and the state of Texas could take in response to the renegade actions of this sheriff. Those include the following:

Passing laws that prohibit any policy or action that promotes sanctuary to people in this state illegally.

Enacting laws that make it illegal for a Sheriff’s Department to not honor a federal immigration detainer request.

Evaluating the extent to which local taxpayers should foot the bill for local decisions that increase costs for Texas’ health and education systems.

Amending the Tort Claims Act to ensure counties are fully financially responsible for the actions of any illegal immigrants who are released because the county’s Sheriff failed to honor an ICE detainer request.

Valdez says her new policy applies only to those who have committed minor offenses. She issued an order that these inmates not be held the additional 48 hours for ICE officials as has been done in the past, the Breitbart Texas article states.

“No matter what we do, someone is going to get upset,” Valdez told Dallas Morning Newsreporters. “We can’t base our decisions on who is going to get upset with us. We have to base our decisions on what is best for the whole.” She did not elaborate on how releasing criminal illegal aliens into the community before ICE is able to determine if there is grounds for detention or deportation makes her community safer.