Texas AG Seeks Swift Reversal Of Blocked 'Sanctuary Cities' Law
AUSTIN, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking a federal appeals court for an emergency order blocking a lower ruling that kept Texas' new anti-"sanctuary cities" law from taking effect.
In a filing Tuesday, Paxton requested expedited consideration and a ruling from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court within two days.
"The district court's fundamentally flawed holding that states violate the Fourth Amendment by even voluntarily honoring federal ICE detainer requests threatens to shut down federal-local cooperation that has existed throughout the nation since the 1940s," Attorney General Paxton told the court. "The district court's order should be immediately stayed pending appeal, as this injunction has far reaching public safety consequences. Senate Bill 4 is wholly valid, and the state has every right to prohibit its own localities from having sanctuary city policies."
A San Antonio-based federal judge last week temporarily suspended Texas' new law amid a lawsuit questioning its constitutionality.
The law had been set to kick in Sept. 1.
It allows police to inquire about people's immigration status during routine interactions like traffic stops.
Police chiefs also could face removal from office and even criminal charges for not complying with federal requests to hold people jailed on non-immigration offenses longer for possible deportation.
Opponents call it a "show your papers" law.
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