Battle over sanctuary cities in Texas suggests a larger national conflict lies ahead

[workinclasszero]

Battle over “sanctuary cities” in Texas suggests a larger national conflict lies ahead
Texas GOP cracks down on Austin's sanctuary policies, putting anti-immigrant persecution ahead of public safety
Amanda Marcotte Sunday, Feb 5, 2017 07:00 AM CST

The battle between sanctuary cities and anti-immigration forces that despise them is just starting to heat up on the federal level. But in Texas, perhaps predictably, things are swiftly reaching a crisis point.

In January, Sally Hernandez, the newly elected sheriff of Travis County — which encompasses most of the city of Austin — announced that the sheriff’s office would be drastically reducing the amount of work it was doing on behalf of immigration officials and would instead devote its resources to enforcing criminal law.

Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who has embraced a broad range of far-right views, retaliated against Hernandez on Wednesday by terminating more than $1 million in state grants to Travis County. He is also threatening to look for ways to remove Hernandez from office.

Abbott’s vindictive attempts at payback are “more like Russian President Putin’s authoritarian regime than our democracy,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat who represents the Austin area, said on Wednesday. “His anti-immigrant hysteria damages local law enforcement and our entire community.”

http://www.salon.com/2017/02/05/battle-over-sanctuary-cities-in-texas-suggests-a-larger-national-conflict-lies-ahead/

[riversedge]

1. Resist they must. No other avenue at this point

[mnhtnbb]

2. This is the kind of fight--different issues on HB 2--but same tactics we have in NC

The right wing Repubs cannot STAND to have pockets of liberalism in the Repub controlled states. They can't stand
communities setting their own priorities and making their own laws. So they look for ways to override local control.
They are such fu*king hypocrites--this party of small government and local control--can't stand it when liberals implement
policies they don't like.

They're just a bunch of hypocritical control freaks. They do not believe in democracy.