Since the Legislature has been in session, the topic of “sanctuary cities” has dominated conversation under the pink dome.

Governor Greg Abbott made the elimination of sanctuary cities—cities that do not to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests and policies—in Texas one of his four emergency state priorities in January.

Officials say a detainer request from ICE is just that—a request—that law-enforcement officials in Harris and Montgomery counties can choose to comply with. Neither entity views detainers as legally binding.

Capt. Bryan Carlisle with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said the agency follows the Constitution and state law.

“It is one of the beauties that we have under the law—the right of discretion,” he said. “Of course we want the bad folks out. … But ICE can make requests all day long, and it is only a request. A judge is the only person who can legally decide what happens.”

Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, is looking to change the discretionary nature of these requests by making them legally binding. In Senate Bill 4, jurisdictions that do not honor detainers will face repercussions in the form of civil penalties, withdrawal of state funding and criminal charges for those in leadership roles.

According to law-enforcement agencies, once a person is arrested, he or she will undergo an interview. If during that interview a correctional officer has a reason to believe the arrested person is an undocumented immigrant, the officer contacts ICE.

Reasons for suspicion can include the arrestee’s origin country, if the person identifies himself or herself as being foreign-born, or fingerprinting. ICE can then choose to issue a detainer request, which gives ICE 48 hours to transfer the person into ICE custody.

In February, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced he would be discontinuing ICE’s voluntary 287(g) program that trained local law-enforcement agents to perform ICE duties within Harris County.

Jason Spencer, a public affairs director with the sheriff’s office, said the decision to discontinue the program would save the county at least $675,000 per year.

“By opting out of that program, it frees up resources for us to redeploy in a way that our sheriff thinks will have a big impact on public safety,” Spencer said.

Spencer said he was not aware of a situation in which the office would deny a detainer request from ICE, but he also did not want to speculate on that issue.

Carlisle said that although the sheriff’s office does exercise the right of discretion, the agency does not make blanket decisions. He said the sheriff’s office is waiting to see how SB 4 develops before assuming it could impact daily operations.

News and notes from the capitol

Community Impact Newspaper and The Texas Tribune have established a partnership to share essential updates during the 85th legislative session. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans ­ and engages with them ­ about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Learn more at texastribune.org.

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