Thread: Texas governor's concept of 'emergency' doesn't pass muster

Texas governor's concept of 'emergency' doesn't pass muster

Posted Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011

Fifteen Texas cities, including Fort Worth, are listed as "sanctuary cities" on www.sanctuarycities.info. The criteria for inclusion apparently can be as simple as a photo that shows "illegals standing in front of a city EMS station" with a police department building in the background.

Amazing how adept some folks are at identifying others' immigration status by looking at them.

Houston is on the list in large part because Gov. Rick Perry hammered away at former Mayor Bill White during the 2010 gubernatorial election about the Bayou City being a haven for illegal immigrants.

Emboldened by election-year rhetoric, Perry elevated so-called sanctuary cities to emergency status at the start of the 2011 legislative session, meaning legislation related to the issue can be fast-tracked for approval.

Perry does not demur from citing cities that fall into that ambiguous category other than Houston, nor does he acknowledge that Houston is a part of the federal Secure Communities program that requires jailers to compare fingerprints of those in the city hoosegow against criminal and immigration databases.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported that as of Sept. 30, more than 4.2 million fingerprint submissions nationwide resulted in 343,829 database matches. As a result of Secure Communities, ICE removed 64,072 persons through this program.

Every county will be enrolled in the program by 2013, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Let's be clear: There's not a city charter in Texas that says "bring us your poor, your tired, your undocumented yearning for free healthcare." But that doesn't deter Perry from continuing to beat the sanctuary drum, saying Texas has communities with policies that make them havens for the undocumented. His populist base loves the rhythm.

Enter the discord between the rhetoric of illegal immigration and the realities facing Texas cities and their elected officials.

The jobs of municipal officials aren't made any easier when the governor and a few state lawmakers play politics with an issue as potentially incendiary as immigration.

Adding a hodgepodge of state laws won't solve the national problem. In addition, they become another layer of unfunded mandates pressed down on city law enforcement agencies already straining to do their jobs -- and not those of the feds -- with diminishing resources.

There's a pragmatic reason why local law enforcement officers might not want a standing order to ask about immigration status: They want to encourage, and not discourage, people to report crimes.

Frustration over illegal immigration is understandable, especially in border states. Those feelings are heightened by the fact that federal lawmakers have ducked substantive discussions about reform since 2006, when President George W. Bush unsuccessfully launched his own effort at comprehensive immigration reform.

But no amount of sloganeering changes the fact that Congress has the constitutional mandate to govern immigration.

Most Americans, business leaders and legislators want comprehensive reform. Polls show that a majority want a method of earned citizenship for at least some immigrants and a system that prevents undocumented residents from flooding the country.

None of that will be achieved through political pandering, by indefensible rhetoric or even by the Texas Legislature passing yet another law. What it will take is a Congress willing to live up to its responsibility, with leadership committed to resolving problems rather than manipulating and exploiting them to stoke political fires.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/01/20 ... z1BiD3zfm3

Consider the source of this article. It's in a Liberal McClatchy Newspaper.

Well, I guess Fort Worth can boast that it's not a sanctuary city because they are broke and closed the city funded day labor center that they can't afford any more.

Dixie

Originally Posted by Dixie

Consider the source of this article. It's in a Liberal McClatchy Newspaper.

Well, I guess Fort Worth can boast that it's not a sanctuary city because they are broke and closed the city funded day labor center that they can't afford any more.

Dixie

that doesnt mean they are not sanctuary.

The McClatchy paper ran sob stories about the day laborers.
This center was open for about 8 years that means over 2 million dollars was spent on illegal aliens.

Fort Worth plans to close day labor center

Dan X. McGraw The 33 News
September 10, 2009

FORT WORTH, TX —
Michael Wheatly's livelihood is so closely aligned with the Fort Worth Day Labor Center that it is hard to imagine his life without it.

He paid for his beaten-down white van that serves as his shelter at night with a job from the center.

"It's my refuge," he said. "It's a place where I can go to get out of the heat or grab a drink."

Now, it appears his refuge might be another victim of the city's budget crisis.

The Fort Worth City Council agreed today to close the center in an effort to close its $59 million budget shortfall. Officials said the center, which costs $271,000 per year, would be closed by mid-October.

The center was closed not because it was unnecessary, but rather because it was ineffective in its current location off 15th Avenue near Trinity Park, officials said.

"It does concern me that it is closing, but we all have to agree that it is not in a good location," Kathleen Hicks, city councilmember, said. "We are going to be looking into new locations and a better way to make it work."

The center opened in 2001 and has had a steady flow of people come to it since it opened its doors, center employees said. In the early morning hours, more than 100 people come to the center searching for work.

Wheatly said the closure of the center accomplishes little. Those searching for work will now be forced to the street corners, exactly what the center was supposed to alleviate.

"That's the whole purpose for this place," he said. "I know things are tough right now, but closing this center isn't the answer."

Wheatly said it will not only kick him and others onto the street, but it will also cause employees to lose their jobs.

As for himself, he knows everything will work out.

"It'll hurt," he said. "But I'll survive."

Copyright © 2011, KDAF-TV

http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-fort-w ... 3886.story

Originally Posted by jamesw62

Originally Posted by Dixie

Consider the source of this article. It's in a Liberal McClatchy Newspaper.

Well, I guess Fort Worth can boast that it's not a sanctuary city because they are broke and closed the city funded day labor center that they can't afford any more.

Dixie

that doesnt mean they are not sanctuary.

Agreed, the city police department recognize the Matricula as a form of ID for banking and the city helped fund the satellite Mexican Consulate in Ft. W. that processes the cards.

Programs like the one in Austin have been popping up all over the country in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and, most recently, Dallas/Fort Worth. On January 17, the Dallas and Fort Worth police departments joined with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Mexican Consulate and six financial institutions—Wells Fargo, Surety Bank, Bank One, J.P. Morgan Chase, City Credit Union and First State Bank—that have agreed to accept the matricula to announce the Communities Banking for Safety program. Through community education on the value of opening a bank account, the program seeks to reduce the number of Hispanic victims of robberies, burglaries and thefts.

http://www.dallasfed.org/ca/epersp/2002/1_2.cfm