The Texas Legislature is one step closer to requiring the sheriffs of the state’s largest counties to enter into cooperation agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Texas Senate passed SB8 in April and forwarded the legislation to the House. On Saturday, the House passed the third reading of the bill.
Texas House members voted 89-50 to pass the third reading of SB8. One member voted “present,” and ten others were absent from the roll call vote. Four Democrats voted with 85 Republicans. Before the vote, the House approved four amendments to the bill, forcing a conference committee to reconcile the differences.
The bill will mandate that the sheriffs in Texas’s 43 counties with populations of over 100,000 people enter into agreements with ICE under the federal 287(g) program. The bill encourages the remaining smaller counties to enter into agreements by providing funding to all counties with a population of less than 1,000,000 residents.
The Senate bill, authored by State Senator Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown), passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 26-5. While all 11 Democrats joined with the majority, five Republicans voted against the measure before sending it to the House.
In addition to mandating participation in the federal immigration program, the bill authorized the Texas Attorney General to file a lawsuit against sheriffs who do not comply. The bill also grants all but seven of Texas’s most populous counties to help defray the costs of training and operating the federal immigration enforcement program.
According to information obtained from the federal immigration agency, 85 Texas counties have signed some level of agreement with ICE as of May 23. Most of the state’s largest counties are not included in this list and would be required to enter into an agreement.
In a written statement published by the Texas Tribune, Governor Greg Abbott’s Deputy Press Secretary Eduardo Leal said, “Gov. Abbott has made it clear that cities and counties across Texas must fully cooperate with the federal government’s efforts to arrest, jail, and deport illegal immigrants. The Governor will review this legislation, as he does with any legislation sent to his desk that helps achieve that goal.”
The Texas Tribune added:
ICE can authorize local authorities to carry out certain types of immigration enforcement in local jails, where officers can be deputized to question inmates about their immigration status and to serve administrative warrants.
In the field, ICE can authorize local officers to question people about their immigration status through a model the Trump administration has revived after it fell into disuse following allegations that it led to racial profiling.
SB 8 would require that sheriffs enter agreements for the program that authorizes local officers to serve administrative warrants, known as the “warrant service” model. But Texas sheriffs could also satisfy the bill’s requirement by participating in the other programs, too.
Once signed by Governor Abbott and implemented statewide, the bill will help the Trump administration’s efforts to remove criminal aliens from the United States.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
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