Conservatives Revive HB 12; Tejanos Must Speak Out

As SomosTejanos predicted earlier this week, the conservatives in the Texas Legislature were not about to disappoint Governor Rick Perry by denying him his "emergency" measure targeting nonexistent sanctuary cities.

Soon after the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security added onto and voted out of committee Texas Senator Tommy Williams' (R-The Woodlands) Senate Bill 9, the Secure Communities bill, The Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security returned the favor and reconsidered and voted out of committeee House Bill 12, the sanctuary cities bill. 

If readers will recall, the media and pundits considered the sanctuary cities bill dead on Wednesday--which was also the day that many opponents of HB 12 attended to testify against it--after Senator Juan Hinojosa substituted language from SB9 and gutted the original HB 12. When Williams brought the bill up for reconsideration on Friday, a Democrat on the committee, Senator Kirk Watson, expressed concerns that it was being reconsidered without public input.

State Senator Jose Rodriguez (D-El Paso) also voiced disappointment. "I am incredibly disappointed by the actions of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee. Reviving the so-called 'Anti-Sanctuary City bill' without giving the public the ability to comment is shameful."

A highly partisan vote allowed the bill to move to the Senate floor for debate and a vote.

It is time to sound off against House Bill 12. As Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance reminds us:

And after saying that the bill was dead on Wednesday, Texas Senators will again decide if our state should adopt an Arizona copycat law. Does that make any sense?No rational Texan can believe that it does.

 

House Bill 12 would divert law enforcement away from their real job: keeping Texas communities safe. Instead the law would turn them into ICE agents compelled to say to detained individuals, "your papers, please."

 

We believe Texas can do better than Arizona. We stand with sheriffs and police chiefs across the state who say this law will keep them from doing their real job - keeping Texans safe. We stand with faith and community leaders who say this law divides their communities and violates their beliefs. We stand with local taxpayers who cannot afford a law that is  impossible to fund.

 

Tell our lawmakers not to join Arizona on their costly, dead-end road.

During previous testimony on this bill, it became quite obvious that the vast majority of law enforcement leaders did not support HB12. So, why would a group of conservative Texas Senators insist that they would know more than law enforcement?  Perhaps all we have left is to point at our friend Fred Lewis' commentary:

It should be no surprise then that right-wing conservatives in the Texas Legislature are proposing extreme legislation this session that seems not so subtly driven by fear of and discrimination towards our latest scapegoat, Hispanic Texans.  Current state proposals for draconian budget cuts, voter ID, allowing poll watchers to film voters, and authorizing the police to essentially ask anyone for their “papers” will harm disproportionately Hispanic Texans.  For the first time in 50 years, our state is likely to spend less on public education than before, just as Hispanic Texans have become the majority of Texas school children

There are some who feel that time may be the only thing on the side of HB 12 opponents, since the budget should be the top priority, and its consideration is time-consuming. But given Rick Perry's "emergency" declaration, it would seem that scoring political points may take precedence over real matters affecting Tejanos.  So, it is time to speak out.

Contact your Texas Senator TODAY. Visit the Texas Tribune Capitol Directory, fill in your zip code, and find your Texas Senator and tell them to VOTE AGAINST HOUSE BILL 12.