The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, is promising to ban sanctuary cities from operating as such within his state. Mayors and other Governors in different states are pledging to do the precise opposite. On Sunday, Abbott made a post on social media site, Twitter, promising to sign a law that would prohibit sanctuary cities.
Abbott went on to say that he has already issued an order to cut the funding given to sanctuary cities. Abbott’s comments were in response to a question from another Twitter user. The question was whether the Governor could reverse the pledge made by Austin to continue operating as a sanctuary city in the wake of the election victory of President-Elect, Donald Trump. Trump promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants during his campaign.
Shortly after his election victory, Trump said that his major priority would be the deportation or imprisonment of undocumented immigrants who have criminal convictions or who were members of gangs. Trump also promised, before the election, to prevent cities that provide sanctuary to undocumented immigrants and refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities, from receiving federal dollars.
There is around $250 million in the two-year Texas state budget for grants to city law enforcement departments, which Abbott could withhold from cities refusing to enforce immigration laws. Several sanctuary cities deny hold requests for criminal immigrants from ICE, ban police from making inquiries about individuals’ legal status, and issue ID cards allowing undocumented immigrants access to some government services.