By Kirsten Bokenkamp Communications Coordinator The Texas Senate passed SB 9 last week, but not without fierce opposition. Police chiefs, religious leaders, businesses leaders, human rights advocates all sounded similar alarms – SB 9 will hurt our economy, undermine our safety, and undercut our values. Today, the House is holding hearings on SB 9 and its House counterpart HB 9. Today is also World Refugee Day. Unfortunate irony aside, the collective message is clear - SB 9 and HB 9 are wrong for Texas. Major news outlets around Texas agree with the concerns about this legislation. We hope that Texas House Members will heed these concerns before casting their vote.
  • A Dallas Morning News editorial on June 16th notes that supporters of this bill have “ignored police chiefs who say their current policies work fine…[and who say that the bill] would undermine police chief’s attempts to focus on violent or property offenses”. The paper noted additional problems with the bill including undefined language, high risk of racial profiling, economic costs, and scaring off witnesses, and “hopes that House members wake up to the everyday mess this bill would cause and fight passage”.
  • On June 17th, on the front page of the Houston Chronicle Metro Section, a sad and gripping article explained that the Sanctuary City bill would have done nothing to prevent the death of Houston Police officer Kevin Will, killed last month by an undocumented drunk driver, who had already been deported twice. The article clearly shows that this legislation is not only ineffective, but also argues that looking tough on undocumented immigration for political gain will not be worth the costs to society.
  • A June 15th editorial in the Star-Telegram called legislators out for twisting the purpose of the bill by falsely connecting undocumented immigration to protecting us from violent Mexican drug cartels. The paper argues that the bill will not deter drug traffickers, but it certainly will burden police departments (costing about $4.5 million to train officers), and will ruin the lives of good people who come to Texas to provide better lives for their families.
  • The San Antonio Express calls the bill a misguided initiative, searching for a problem (‘Sanctuary Cities’) that is hard to prove even exists. Furthermore, the bill will distract police from their primary mission to protect against crime, and while it targets Latinos, all Texans will feel the negative effects.