By Josie Wales
The ACLU issued a “travel alert” in the state of Texas Wednesday, warning “anyone planning to travel to Texas in the near future to anticipate the possible violation of their constitutional rights when stopped by law enforcement.”
The alert was announced in response to the passage of Senate Bill 4, otherwise known as the “papers please” provision. Texas Governor Greg Abbott unexpectedly broadcast himself signing the bill banning sanctuary cities in a Facebook live stream, during which he specifically targeted Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez for pushing back against the ban, warning, “This will not be tolerated. There will be consequences.”
The “papers please” law encourages police to demand proof of citizenship during routine traffic stops and “requires Texas law enforcement to comply with the federal government’s constitutionally flawed use of detainer requests, which ask local law enforcement to hold people for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), even when they lack the legal authority to do so,” the ACLU notes.
The executive director of Texas’ ACLU made it clear the organization will be challenging the new legislature, saying:
We plan to fight this racist and wrongheaded law in the courts and in the streets. Until we defeat it, everyone traveling in or to Texas needs to be aware of what’s in store for them. The Lone Star State will become a ‘show me your papers’ state, where every interaction with law enforcement can become a citizenship interrogation and potentially an illegal arrest.
However, Texas’ top police chiefs have railed against the bill for months, saying the new legislation will endanger public safety. The police chiefs of Austin, Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and the Texas Police Chiefs Association voiced their opposition in an open letter to the House of Representatives in April, calling SB4 “political pandering that will make our communities more dangerous.”
The letter explains how the law will further damage relations between law enforcement and their communities and leave more violent criminals on the street:
Legal immigrants are beginning to avoid contact with the police for fear that they themselves or undocumented family members or friends may become subject to immigration enforcement. Such a divide between the local police and immigrant groups will result in increased crime against immigrants and in the broader community, create a class of silent victims, and eliminate the potential for assistance from immigrants in solving crimes or preventing crime. It should not be forgotten that by not arresting criminals that victimize our immigrant communities, we are also allowing them to remain free to victimize every one of us. When it comes to criminals, we are in this together, regardless of race, sex, religion or nation of origin.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus expressed his displeasure in a press conference Monday, stating “There’s nothing positive that this bill does in the community or in law enforcement. Austin didn’t seem to want to listen to its law enforcement leaders across the state. And that, to me, is troubling.”
McManus, just one of many law enforcement officials ardently opposed to S.B.4, has been very straightforward about exactly what this new law requires him and his officers to do — and who to target:
We’re talking about folks south of the border. We’re not talking about people we think might be here from Russia or from somewhere else. We’re talking about out people south of the border,” he said. “In order for me to identify someone who I don’t think is from here, it’s either skin color, language or accent. And in order to do, that I’m profiling. So that’s another part of the bill that’s distasteful, to say the least.
However, none of the police chiefs were staunchly opposed to the bill enough to give any indication they would refuse to comply with the “papers please” provision, despite the fact that they believe it to be dangerous. Sheriff Hernandez clearly stated she will comply with the sanctuaries ban if it becomes law— and she believes it will. Well, it has become law, and it officially goes into effect on September 1st, 2017, giving Texas law enforcement some time to remember the Oath of Honor they took, review their code of ethics, and decide whether to follow their consciences or their marching orders.
To review your rights when stopped by police, immigration agents, or the FBI, go to ACLU.org.
Go Texas!!!!! Take that ACLU pukes!!
Another reason to love Texas 🙂
The ACLU’s alert states that ‘everyone traveling to Texas needs to be aware of what’s in store for them’. If I travel there, I know I will be treated politely and with respect, for I am a LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN of the US, and therefore have no fear of BEING DETAINED FOR BEING IN THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY. i’m thinking the ACLU doesn’t really mean ‘everyone’ here. Oh, wait, I’m a middle-aged white guy. Sorry, I forgot: I don’t exist.
Seriously! AVOID TEXAS if you are a scofflaw and are here illegally. That is all, have a nice day!
DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS
“political pandering that will make our communities more dangerous.”
Yeah, you know, getting rid of illegal aliens who commited felonious entry into another nation, milk the welfare system, force schools to have to teach the kids English, cost the tax payers thousands of dollars in graffetti removal, force police to have “gang task forces”and on and on. Yeah, that sort of pandering 🙁
Al…a…mo!!! & remember; you can still photograph and video LE.
See the video ‘What to do if stopped by Police’.
Illegal ‘alien’ or not, there are still Civil Rights, Rights of Compliance and the 4th Amendment.
Misguided. You do realize expats lose Constitutional rights. That goes without saying for illegals. Cognitive much?
“Illegals” do not enjoy the same “rights” as we citizens do. What part of “illegal” do you not understand?
Actually they have more rights than citizens….I’ve heard SAPD drives illegal alien DUI offenders home but if you are a citizen you get booked.
F all yall at AssCLU! You idiots obviously practice subjective law abiding. If laws are subjective to you im going to find one of you and beat the piss out of you. Then we’ll see how you embrace law.
AS WELL AS SELECTIVE LAW ENFORCING
How can it be an illegal arrest ? why do these people believe illegals have the same US rights as legal citizens ? if cops dont arrest illegals then how in the hell can we ALLOW them enforce any laws ? of course if half the cops did their job the other half would be in prison!!!!!!!!!!!! or do laws even exist? not if a person ….lets say….. just says screw this law . why not say screw all laws! why are WE supposed to be the country with no borders and no official language and no birth given gender ? i like it much better the way it used to be here in texas back when i didnt have to compete for jobs with illegals who dont even have enough self respect to demand a decent wage and dont have enough respect for others not to undercut them. ten years ago i made 22 $ an hour …..now the going rate is 14 and wall to wall mexicans ……. i remember when it felt special to be an american…. when it was something to be proud of . now its being shit upon by the very people charged with its care…..the only law that shouldnt be enforced is an unjust law . look up gaining citizenship in germany and see what it takes to become a german and then tell me how our immigration laws are unjust . marijuana laws ARE unjust . smoke ten pounds of weed and ill see you tomorrow …. take ten aspirin and ill see you next lifetime…………peace
To all the English colonial Rednecks Albinos ; this never was your country, it belongs to the natives and the Mexicans. I know you think it’s yours because you committed genocide against the original inhabitants but no amount of thievery and murder will make you the rightful owners.
FIRST OF ALL THOSE OF US BORN HERE DIDNT COMMIT SHIT AND FURTHERMORE WE DIDNT EVEN HAVE A CHOICE IN THE MATTER!! SECONDLY… I AGREE , BECAUSE IF THIS WAS YOUR ANCESTORS LAND THEN YOU WERE PROBABLY BORN HERE IN WHICH CASE YOU HAVE AS MUCH RIGHT TO BE HERE AS ME……BUT THATS NOT WHAT WERE TALKING ABOUT IS IT ? ARE ANY OF THOSE PEOPLE TO WHOM GENOCIDE WAS COMMITTED UPON STILL HERE… NO . SO ITS NOT LIKE WE CAN GIVE IT BACK AND SAY SORRY . WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE ….NOW ….TODAY….CROSSING OUR BORDER ILLEGALLY . WHATS THE PROBLEM WITH COMING HERE LEGALLY AND LEARNING ENGLISH ? I CANT IMAGINE RETIRING IN MEXICO AND NEVER LEARNING A WORD OF SPANISH . ISNT THAT PUTTING YOURSELF AT A DISADVANTAGE? AND DEFINITELY WOULDNT GO TO ANOTHER COUNTRY AND TRY TO CHANGE IT TO MIRROR THE SHITHOLE I JUST CAME FROM …. BECAUSE I ASSUME THE REASON THEY COME HERE IS FOR SOMETHING BETTER BUT EVERY DAY I SEE MEXICAN FLAGS …. HEAR MEXICAN ADS… IF MEXICO IS SO GREAT THAT YOU ADVERTISE IT HERE THEN I WILL BUY YOU A BUS TICKET HOME I MEAN WHO WOULDNT WANT TO GO BACK TO A PLACE SO GREAT?
Re your claims: “this never was your country, it belongs to the natives and the Mexicans.”
And:
“Majority of the Mexican population is of Indigenous decent.”
Mikael: you started off your rants with false assertions.
1) There are ZERO humans who were “native”or “Indigenous” to the American continents. ALL were “immigrants” here.
2) Mexico is the remnants of the Spanish invasion of the lower North American continent and virtual extinguishing — via the Spaniards’ introduction of smallpox — of the then-existing dominant Aztec empire.
chinga tu madre pendejo .
“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”
―Socrates
You lose, Mikael.
Quod erat demonstrandum
ACLU… YOU ROCK !!!1 NOW IF SOME OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WOULD KINDLY TELL THEIR CRIMINALS THE SAME ….TEXAS WILL BE BETTER OFF FOR IT …..!!!
“Elected officials and law enforcement agencies, they don’t get to pick and choose with (sic) laws they obey,” Gov. Abbott claims.”
And there you have it. Police must be mindless drones to keep their job–no consideration of their sworn Oath to support their Constitutions or determine if they are following lawful orders.
What I’m afraid of is that they will just do the opposite and racial profile by NOT stopping anyone who they think might be Mexican or S. American. That’s even worse. Race shouldn’t even be a factor in law enforcement…..crime should. I wouldn’t put that passive-aggressive approach past them.
I read a sci fi novel many years ago which imagined a future where the US and the USSR were no longer opposed on social policy, because the US had simply adopted all of the “USSR” policies. There is no longer a Russian “USSR”, but there is now an American one.
If mountain lions are on the rampage and are evidenced as the killing and eating of humans, why pray tell would you focus on bears, dogs, rabbits, chickens, cats when it is mountain lions who are the known culprits?
Well, hate to say this, but it’s a good AND bad idea. Good because the borders of the USA should have never been open to Mexico, or any other country for that matter (just my educated opinion), this law might just send people back to their own country (hopefully) Why? Well, why not? Is it sooo bad in Mexico? That they have to leave?? Go home! Bad…well, it could end up attacking and unjustly detaining true American/European people here. But like anything else, one law is just as bad or good as another.
Mexicans need another revolution….sadly they hate to leave it but don’t know how to combat the communism. Here’s hoping they will figure it out someday.
Seems like we could use a revolution here as well eh?
Gotta have a plan in place, else it’s no revolution at all, merely an uprising. Notice the historical success rate of uprisings: “Meet the new boss; same as the old boss!”
IF you honestly feel the Constitutional Republic is irretrievably lost along with the sovereignty of We the People, then put forward your idea of a workable alternative. Beware the mind-control propaganda being put out under color of all stripes of political opinions, pushing for violence and “revolution” (without publishing the true plan).
The people who are pushing hardest for violence, social decay and uprisings are the same who urgently desire to destroy our Constitutional Republic and replace it with world-wide dictatorship. They are NOT your friends, nor do they support sovereignty of the individual. Notice all the fashions which encourage or even force individuals to associate as part of a group, then accept the propaganda which tells them how they must think and feel BECAUSE they’re now part of the aforementioned group.
Think for yourself. Question authority. NEVER join a mob. Ever.
Understand what you’re saying, know only too well, the plans of mice an men…an in all honesty, it would take much blood shed and possibly foreign military involvement to make things even begin to look like, “the good ol’ days.” Everyone (they should) have an idea about how things should be run, as for mob…nah! Not my bag- I too like order, but not new world order. It would take another 200 years to put things right in this country. It would mean breaking deals, broken economy, trade war; well, we are already in a trade war now; and we are losing. Once upon a time, the USA was a leader, now we are just someone’s b***h who attacks a middle easter country supposedly to thwart terrorism. Man made terrorists have been roaming the earth since the Roman times. It works then, and works now. Honestly, I’d welcome anything that put the screws to those who “think” they run the show; only to be imprisoned themselves….shock and awe compliments of another country, maybe Russia- Russia seems to be getting bad press and after all these years of silence on our MS media, now As Russia begins to seem, more moral, and the USA seems immoral, we now are name calling- adding to our list of faults. Regime change has come to many countries, maybe , just maybe it will come here. The elite have made a Frankenstein, as you know, the monster the Baron made turned on him because he was…..”defective.”
Mexicans never had a proper revolution. They just had 75 years of chaos and lawlessness. Eventually the people settled for corrupt dictatorship in preference to chaotic lawlessness. IF the Mexican people could unite behind a system of government which actually WORKS for the people, they could finally enjoy the lovely natural bounty which Mexico offers.
A circular argument…let’s allow lawbreakers to reside here in order that they can snitch on people breaking the same law & committing other crimes (against them) ????
Obviously they left their countries in which they were victimized as well not only by criminals in the standard sense but by their communistic economic policies.
Good for the ACLU warning….I don’t want them to travel to Texas. In fact if it’s an incentive to leave, all the better.
To my knowledge no stats are kept on illegal aliens breaking the law…the only way it can be tracked is when they are convicted using court records. I think that stinks. Let’s see the facts and then we can decide if we want to look the other way on illegal immigration. Right now I don’t because it’s costing us money and lives.
The whole reason we have immigration laws is so we can vet immigrants and control who we let into our country. “See no evil tactics” have not been working.
Could Mc Manus see illegal immigration as job security? The more crime the more power he derives.
I have nothing against Hispanics, I married one ….but I don’t want ANYBODY here illegally because it’s dangerous.
go marry an albino feminist beached blond whore ,who cant cook and only divorce you and call the police ..go marry your people redneck albino hypocrite .
Let’s adopt a policy of CRIME profiling. Race has nothing to do with it.
AMERICAN COMMUNIST LAWYERS UNION …….The 1986 Act established penalties for enabling & harboring of illegal aliens BY ANYONE & also for employing or enabling
employment BY ANYONE……NEVER, EVER, ENFORCED BECAUSE POLITICIANS ARE OWNED BY CHEAP LABOR ADVOCATES WHO COULD CARE LESS ABOUT HOW MANY AMERICANS DIE IN THE PROCESS. Currently, multiple Senators are
pushing a REPLACE AMERICAN WORKERS ACT which will open the doors for half a millions more every year. National Review called it, “The Road to Serfdom.”
Typical RINOs leading the charge (Ron Johnson & John McCain McNasty) & they say they have 50 other Senators on board to destroy the USA for all American workers who want to work and will never, ever get a raise…..or a job.
Majority of the Mexican population is of Indigenous decent .Maybe its time for “every body” to go home to your forefathers home land and return the land to the “NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE INDIANS” …… time to go back to Europe Rednecks ! . Half of the United States was part of Mexico and” stolen by English settlers”. The president of Mexico has to call the Russian president PUTIN and the Chinese prime minister and put a Russian military base and a Chinese military base in the Mexican territory on the border and then demand the United States to return the land they stole from Mexico during war of Colonial days.
No English white or Redneck colonial man will work more than 12 hours a day 7 days a week collecting fruits and vegetables in the hot heat of the desert For 1.50 per hour, not even for the minimum wage. Racist Rednecks ! Warmongers of the world .
The good news The U.S. is the biggest WARMONGER in the world and most hated country in the planet Earth . The latest news more Muslims refugees will come to America and colonize your neighborhood ! ……….soon very soon you English albinos will be a minority ho !ho !. its…called KARMA !!
To all the English colonial Rednecks Albinos ; this never was your country, it belongs to the natives and the Mexicans. I know you think it’s yours because you committed genocide against the original inhabitants but no amount of thievery and murder will make you the rightful owners.
I can’t afford the papers and fees to return to my fathers homeland. Seriously though I am at this time, after so many generations removed, just as much a native American National as any Native American born here. This doesn’t justify the theft of their resources and land. Just saying my “claims” to America are just as valid at this point.
Believe there’s strong evidence of Vikings settling parts of N America – before, or after, which native tribes? Earth belongs to Humanity. In general, we aren’t the ones causing death and destruction across planet, and most of us truly desire that everyone has safety and prosperity.
Do they teach history on the planet you’re from, Vyachesi? Mexicans are of predominantly Spanish descent–it’s why they are mostly Catholic and often have names like Jesus and Maria, Lopez and Estrada, as opposed to “indigenous native” names like Eagle Feather and Stands Tall and Little Beaver. If all North Americans of European extraction were to “go back where they came from” this would be very lonely continent and every country in Europe would be an overcrowded mess, particularly Spain (they obviously don’t want their descendants back).
The very notion of European settlers stealing territory from each other in the New World begs the question of who “stole” it first. Which would take us back to the Athabaskans and the Hopi invading and stealing land from the Anasazi and the Hohokam.
Perhaps Texas State Law should give way to Toltec Law, and the official language should be changed to Nahuatl. But then, that might offend the Mayans.
There’s nothing “racist” about laws which enforce nationality issues. Nothing. For the record, people of Spanish-speaking backgrounds are THE SAME RACE as people from French-speaking or Italian-speaking backgrounds. ACLU, ease off the overuse of the race card; it’s getting tattered and faded from overuse.
God bless Texas.