Texas Gov.
Greg Abbott has not backed down from his vow to eradicate sanctuary city
policies from the Lone Star State, officially offering a stark warning to
Austin’s sheriff
on Monday.
Abbott warned
Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez that her jail would become the first in
the state to lose taxpayer money over sanctuary city policies unless she
reverses her plans to curtail working with federal immigration authorities by
February.
"This is
not a pronouncement of sound public policy; it is a dangerous game of political
Russian roulette — with the lives of Texans at stake," Abbott wrote in a
letter, according to the Texas Tribune.
The newly-elected
sheriff said in a statement Friday that starting Feb. 1 she would end the
policy of honoring all jail detainers sought by U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE). Hernandez, a Democrat, ran on promises to change how
detainers were going to be handled.
Abbott
responded to Hernandez in a tweet on Friday, warning strict penalties for
“adopting sanctuary policies.”
"Your
unilateral decision will cost the people of Travis County money that was meant
to protect them," Abbott wrote. He said funding would be lost by Feb. 1
unless the county changes course.
Abbott, who
attended President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday, is now effectively
threatening to carry out Trump’s promise to stop all federal dollars to places
where local officials rebuff federal agents and don't arrest or detain
immigrants living in the country illegally on the state level. He has
previously warned local officials against adopting sanctuary policies but has
not delivered such a direct ultimatum before now.
Travis County could
lose up to $1.8 million in grants because the governor's office requires
compliance in order to receive grants.
The Travis
County sheriff's office has a $169 million budget, according to the county's
budget website. The $1.8 million would represent 1 percent of that budget.
A spokeswoman
for Hernandez said she had no immediate comment on Abbott's letter, but in a
video posted to YouTube last week, the sheriff said honoring all federal
immigration detainers ties up her deputies and sows distrust between officers
and county residents. Detainers are requested when federal immigration
authorities, while reviewing jail records, raise concerns about whether a
suspect is in the country legally and asks for them to remain jailed so their
status can be investigated.
Hernandez said
the sheriff’s office would still hold people only when a suspect is booked into
the Travis County Jail on charges of capital murder, aggravated sexual assault
and “continuous smuggling of persons.”
Critics
contend that the system results in suspects making long stays in jails or being
deported over minor crimes. Under Travis County's new policy, the jail will now
only comply with detainers on murder, aggravated sexual assault and human
trafficking charges. For other crimes, Hernandez said she would keep suspects
jailed when there is a court order or judicial warrant issued.
"We
cannot afford to make our community less safe by driving people in to the
shadows," Hernandez said.
Abbott
similarly threatened Dallas County in 2015 over how the local jail worked with
federal immigration authorities. But he never gave a deadline then and
ultimately never withheld any funding to Dallas jails.
Houston law
enforcement officials could also ultimately test Abbott. Houston Police Chief
Art Acevedo, who until last year was Austin's police chief, said this weekend
he supports working with federal immigration agents over "hardened
criminals" but not what he called "peaceful, law-abiding"
residents.
"We don't
have time to deal with economic immigrants," Acevedo said.
AP/Fox News
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