As state lawmakers move closer to criminalizing undocumented immigration, San Antonio officials are scrambling to ensure local law enforcement officers aren’t tasked with enforcing the new rules.
Senate Bill 4 would make it a crime to enter the state from a foreign nation between legal ports of entry and authorize law enforcement officers to arrest violators.
Though House and Senate versions of the proposal died over disagreements between the two chambers in the last special session, committees overseeing the matter returned for a fourth session with identical bills aimed at delivering one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s top priorities.
San Antonio city attorneys have already worked with lawmakers on language for a potential amendment specifying enforcement of the new law would be up to the Department of Public Safety, not municipal city police officers, Government Affairs Director Sally Basurto told City Council on Thursday.
“We submitted that language in the last 48 hours to the bill authors,” Basurto said. “They seemed open to at least receive it, so we’re in the initial steps of those discussions with a bill author.”
San Antonio is coordinating with the City of Houston to bring the issue to the attention of both cities’ state legislative delegations.
Breaking the new law would be a Class B misdemeanor, or a state jail felony if the person has previously been convicted of the same offense, according to the bills. The legislation also would create new procedures for arrests, fingerprints and background checks, as well as appearing before a judge or a magistrate.
Early communication with the bill’s authors indicated their intention is that enforcement would be left to the state, but city officials say they still have plenty of reason for concern.
For one, the bill contains language compelling local governments to pay for the legal defense of their officials if they’re charged with a crime in enforcing the potential new law. San Antonio is asking for that provision be removed.
Additionally, local officials worry that if SB 4 becomes law, the state’s “sanctuary city” ban would force the city to coordinate with the state on enforcing it.
Last year San Antonio had to pay $300,000 to settle a pair of lawsuits alleging the city violated the “sanctuary city” ban, which compelled local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
San Antonio police had caught a man smuggling 12 suspected undocumented immigrants and released the migrants instead of detaining them for federal immigration officials.
The city is asking for SB 4 to include a provision saying local law enforcement wouldn’t be required to help the state enforce the new law.
“We are trying to prevent the stacking of [SB 4], if and when it passes, on top of the SB 4 restrictions from the 85th session,” Basurto said Thursday.
