AT: Texas attorney general Ken Paxton is suing the city of San Antonio for violating the new state law that punishes cities and towns for not cooperating with federal immigration detainers and turn over illegal aliens to authorities.
City officials and police say they will not cooperate with ICE unless the agency presents a federal deportation warrant for a specific individual.
The suit claims that San Antonio police stopped a truck carrying 12 Guatemalans they suspected of being illegal. They actually knew that the aliens were illegal because they charged the driver with smuggling of persons. The new law requires the city to hand over the individuals to ICE, which they failed to do.
The lawsuit seeks hefty civil fees from the city, including a $25,500 penalty for nearly every day that the city’s immigration procedures violated state law. The law went into effect Sept. 1, 2017 – meaning those fees could amount to some $11.6 million.
The lawsuit claims that San Antonio Police Chief William McManus “personally called an immigration attorney from an advocacy organization” and released the individuals without running background checks.
“Unfortunately, some municipalities, such as San Antonio, put the safety of police officers and the public at risk by defying state law,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a news release.
City Attorney Andy Segovia took issue with Paxton’s characterization of events, saying the attorney general was clearly “aimed at furthering a political agenda.”
“While we need time to review the complaint, we are fully confident that neither the city nor Chief McManus violated the applicable provisions of [the law],” Segovia said in a statement. “The city has a long history of cooperating with federal authorities and we will continue to do so. The city’s process for handling human smuggling/trafficking incidents was created in coordination with the federal government, and federal officials have not taken issue with our handling of immigration issues.”
Paxton’s office has asked the court to issue an injunction requiring the city to comply with the new law, as well as assess major civil penalties against the city, police department and McManus.
Are we a federal republic or not? While states have certain rights vis-à-vis the federal government, law enforcement activities would logically seem to be an exception. Why stop at refusing to enforce the laws against illegal aliens? Why not terrorism? Or murder? read more
Outstanding!
If they don’t comply remove their city charter and right to collect or use property and sales taxes.
As recommended above, the best place to smak these fools is right in the reward shelf.
Cut off their reason for existing.
We just keep reading about the same crap and getting the same solutions. This site is wearing thin.
As someone who lives in SA. I am glad to see something being done. Not that it will make any difference.
** This site is wearing thin. **
GTFO, then….coward
This site is wearing thin? And he/she is anonymous. What a jackass.
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton is the one that needs be removed. Appointed was he? Easy fix. If elected, another easy fix for concerned legal voters.
Kind of sad to see this is San Antonio today. Was stationed at the Army hospital there once and, though it was only for a few months, I remember it fondly. Some peeps took me to see the Alamo and went along the Riverwalk, lived on salad and bottomless baskets of breadsticks from Olive Garden. Had some really great times (including a bats**t roommate who, in a major meltdown, once threw all the contents of our room into the hallway – my mug from Wales survived!) and made great friends. I liked it there.