Illegal aliens are “here to stay.”
Pro-sanctuary cities protesters who disrupted the Texas Capitol with that slogan on Monday brought the same shirts, signs, and shouts to a North Texas lawmaker’s office on Wednesday.
About 50 to 60 protesters gathered outside the district office of State Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-Irving) on Wednesday. Nearly every protester – including some young children – wore the same red and orange shirts seen inside the Capitol on Monday that read “North Texas Dream Team” and “Fight Back! No SB4!”
“SB4” refers to Senate Bill 4 — legislation which passed the Texas House and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in May — requiring law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration laws and penalizing sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with the law.
The group behind Wednesday’s protest in Farmer’s Branch, the North Texas Dream Team, is an affiliate of United We Dream. They’re part of an “immigrant movement” whose mission is to advocate for “undocumented” immigrants, especially DREAM Act and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) beneficiaries, and to stop deportations of illegal aliens.
UWD also offers “helpful resources” like how to “protect yourself from immigration raids,” “fight back” against ICE, and “defend yourself from enforcement” of immigration laws.
Although a number of Wednesday’s protesters didn’t seem to know why they were there, according to an attendee Texas Scorecard spoke with, organizers said they targeted Rinaldi because he tried to quell their unruly anti-SB 4 protests inside the Capitol.
Rinaldi called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in response to self-identified illegal immigrants in the gallery who were among protesters shouting against SB 4 – disrupting the last day of the legislative session, what normally would have been a solemn Memorial Day sendoff. Two Democrat members of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) then threatened and assaulted Rinaldi, according to witnesses, with Rinaldi countering that he’d defend himself against a fellow lawmaker’s threatened future assaults.
A Facebook post promoting the anti-Rinaldi protest read, “We will gather at his office to let him know that when our community is under attack, we fight back.”
In a Facebook video from the demonstration, North Texas Dream Team protesters shout “Undocumented, unafraid” and “Here to stay.”
SB 4 goes into effect September 1. Opponents say they’ll keep up protests until then, but sanctuary cities are on their way out and enforcement of immigration law is here to stay.
