Within hours of Gov. Greg Abbott signing the sanctuary cities ban in Texas lawsuits began to fly. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the first one asking the federal courts to declare the new law constitutional. Then LULAC – the League of United Latin American Citizens – the tiny border town of El Cenizo and other plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the sanctuary cities ban from being enforced.
Among its many provisions the legislation passed by Republican legislators in Austin would allow local police in Texas to ask people during routine stops whether they're in the country legally. Local officials who refuse to enforce federal immigration requests could be jailed or fined.
Texas Public Radio’s Shelley Kofler talked with LULAC attorney Luis Vera about the lawsuit he’s filed against the Governor and Attorney General, and why the suit maintains the new law, scheduled to go into effect September 1, is unconstitutional.
