After the meeting, County Judge Ed Emmett told reporters the motion could be brought back at a later date but that he thought it was unlikely. He said both during and after the meeting that residents should not interpret a reluctance to join the suit as an endorsement of the law by Harris County.
“Clearly, the ‘show-me-your-papers aspect’ of Senate Bill 4 is a vast overreach,” Emmett said. “But the second aspect of this is the role of the county. The county is an arm of the state of Texas.”
Emmett said counties operate less independently than cities in the eyes of the state government, and he worried about the legality of a suit from Harris County. Emmett and Precinct 2 Commissioner Jack Morman also said they thought it bad precedent to sue the state over every law with which the county disagreed.
“I think the county attorney has expressed some very valid concerns, not the least of which is the impact on [Texas Child Protective Services] and children [in families of mixed-residency status],” Morman said. “But that’s just, I think, a dangerous precedent to set.”
Commonly known as the anti-“sanctuary cities” law, SB 4 takes effect Sept. 1 and allows local law enforcement to question the immigration status of people they legally detain or arrest. The law also punishes officials who do not cooperate with federal immigration agents by turning over immigrants, which can result in the loss of state funds, according to Community Impact Newspaper partner the Texas Tribune.
.@SenatorSylvia speaking against #SB4 at Harris Co. Commissioners Court. Activists also gathered pic.twitter.com/2BxWD9jMV2
— Community Impact KTY (@impactnews_kty) July 11, 2017
Houston has joined the lawsuit along with Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and four other counties. Emmett said that neither Harris County nor Houston has ever been a sanctuary county or city, respectively, and that the law was unnecessary.
During the public comments, state Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, and Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, urged the court to join the lawsuit. They said SB 4 could lead to discrimination of people of color and Spanish speakers, and it could discourage immigrants from reporting crimes to police for fear of deportation.
“This law is unnecessary, creates more problems than it fixes and is contrary to the values of the people of Harris County,” Garcia said.
County bail lawsuit discussed
During Tuesday’s meeting, the commissioners also discussed a federal mandate that requires misdemeanor defendants’ release while awaiting trial if they are unable to post bail. The county plans to reform its bail bond system, but in April, Chief U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal ruled that qualifying defendants who signed an affidavit declaring their inability to post bail be released, Community Impact Newspaper previously reported.
“I’d like the county attorney’s office to look into the arrest impact that has occurred since the Rosenthal release [ruling],” Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said.
Harris County’s Public Safety Assessment—a data-based tool intended to help judges decide whether to release pretrial misdemeanor defendants—is expected to go into effect for felonies and some misdemeanors by the end of July, Ryan said.
