The City of Houston’s recent ordinance restricting HPD cooperation with ICE remains in limbo, with a meeting to repeal it scheduled for Wednesday. The whole fiasco is starting to affect the other major metros in the Texas Triangle.
Dallas, Austin, and Houston have all received warnings from Governor Abbott’s office that they could lose grant funding if they don’t adjust policies that mimic sanctuary cities, which are illegal under state law.
State Representative Mitch Little says that despite that state law, these cities are trying to get as close to sanctuary status as they can. “You cut off one head, and another pops up in its place,” he said. “It’s appearing in the form of other cities not coordinating their efforts with federal law enforcement.”
There have been attempts, especially here in Houston, to block Governor Abbott from recalling these funds in court, but Rep. Little says Abbott clearly has the power to do this. “I just don’t think that these cities should waste their time with lawfare, trying to get the judicial system to step on the toes of the executive branch,” he said.
He added that these cities are hurting everyone at every level by not enforcing federal laws.