Latino and immigrant rights groups in Texas are gearing up for a “summer of resistance” in response to the racist “show me your papers” law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this month, which would put racial profiling on the books by allowing local law enforcement to question the immigration status of anyone they stop, even due to simple traffic violations. Imagine the consequences, if this legislation is enacted later this year, in a state where nearly half of the population is Latino.
In response, groups are already mapping out boycotts in protest, and just this week, El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles and the Texas Organizing Project Education Fund filed a lawsuit against the bill, seeking to have it struck down as unconstitutional before it has a chance to wreak havoc on millions of Latino and immigrant residents. “The assaults on our community that this law encourages are unacceptable,” said Austin City Councilmember Gregorio Casar, who penned an op-ed in the New York Times calling on all Texans to fight the legislation:
I’m the son of immigrants, and I represent a district where more than one-third of residents are not citizens. I’ve seen firsthand the terror that this type of anti-immigrant legislation will cause in communities like mine.
During one of the immigration raids that took place in Austin this year, I sat in the living room of a constituent, an undocumented immigrant, talking to her young children. That day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers had knocked on their door. The children were confused and fearful that they were going to lose their parent. The trauma of that day will stay with them.
As a consequence of Senate Bill 4, I fear that many children in our community will to experience this terror every time they see an Austin police officer. This is wrong. We fund our police to protect us from danger and defend our rights, not to tear apart families.
As Councilman Casar notes, “Senate Bill 4 does not advance public safety,” contrary to the claims of the bill’s proponents. Research shows that cities with pro-immigrant, sanctuary city policies are actually safer, because local law enforcement agencies are able to build trust with undocumented immigrants. Obviously, undocumented folks are more inclined to report crime if they also don’t have to fear being deported for it. But when local police are forced to act as federal immigration agents—as Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump would like—it could force immigrants into the shadows and make communities less safe. Casar points out that because of fear from “immigration raids in Austin this year, the city’s provider of sexual assault forensic exams has reported an 80 percent increase in sexual assault victims who weren’t willing to report their assaults to police.”
Casar writes that a fear of his is not just having SB 4 successfully implemented in the state, where it could devastate his constituents and neighbors, but also that it has a chance of metastasizing nationally, something the Trump regime would gladly encourage and defend:
This is bigger than Texas. If Senate Bill 4 is allowed to go into effect in my state, we can expect similar laws across the country. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, recently called Texas Senate Bill 4 a “positive step” that “makes sense for the citizens of our country.” More than 50 similar bills are pending in dozens of state legislatures.
The racism and fear that play such outsize roles in support for this type of legislation, and in contemporary politics more broadly, must be confronted head-on. I believe that immigrants’-rights activists and elected officials together are up to the task. With Senate Bill 4, we’re faced with the threat of a continued cycle of political and economic disenfranchisement of working-class minority communities, and the tragic human consequences that suppression brings. There’s just one thing standing in the way: all of us.
Casar’s op-ed is here, and it’s a must-read. Advocates in the state are also planning a May 29 Day of Action. For more information on the event, text STOPSB4 to United We Dream at 877-877.