Tuesday’s results make it abundantly clear that Republican primary voters want something to be done about sanctuary cities; municipalities that offer safe harbor to illegal immigrants by refusing to enforce federal immigration laws.
More than 2.6 million Texans voted on Proposition 2 in this year’s Republican primary — an increase of over 1 million compared to the number of votes cast for the propositions in 2014. Of those 2.6 million, 62.74% favor requiring municipalities to comply with federal immigration laws under penalty of losing state funds.
Like most tasks with which government is charged, a statewide ban on sanctuary cities is tragically overdue, thanks to Straus and his cabal of Democrats and liberal Republicans — who have, in three separate legislative sessions, killed legislation that would have done exactly that.
In the last legislative session, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Frisco) authored HB 4117 – a ban on sanctuary cities. Just like many other meaningful conservative reforms the Straus coalition deems unfavorable, it was routed to the State Affairs Committee — where Chairman Byron Cook (R-Corsicana) killed it, along with other significant reforms aimed at illegal immigration.
Considering the salience of illegal immigration as an issue-set in this year’s campaign cycle, it is likely that these issues will take center stage in the 85th Legislative Session. With Gov. Greg Abbott calling for an end to sanctuary cities, the Straus coalition is likely to find itself — once again — in the position of thwarting not only their own constituents’ ideals, but those of their elected superiors.
