Bexar County is joining San Antonio in a lawsuit against the state over Senate Bill 4, the sanctuary cities law, passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Greg Abbott.
Under the law, scheduled to take effect on September 1, police and sheriff’s departments in Texas can no longer prevent officers from asking about someone’s immigration status when they’re detained.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Sergio Rodriguez is in favor of the lawsuit.
“Not every dark-looking Hispanic is illegal here,” said Precinct 1 Commissioner Sergio Rodriguez. “This is going to be a lot of racial profiling. And I have some concerns with what’s going on and I think we need to continue to support the lawsuit and have the sheriff’s back on this.”
Commissioners Court voted 4-0 to join the lawsuit.
“This is bad law,” said Precinct 2 Commissioner Paul Elizondo. “It’s bad for law enforcement. Law enforcement was not listened to. And this is a slap in the face of our citizenship in this state, especially south Texas. Let’s go forth and join this lawsuit and I bet you we will win.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Kevin Wolff was not in attendance, but did let others on the court know that he was against joining the lawsuit.
