say a vote this week in the U.S. Senate not to strip funding from
'Sanctuary Cities' is a step in the right direction, News Radio 1200
WOAI reports.
"This vote represents a positive future for
undocumented immigrants, non criminals," said Jaime Martinez of the
Cesar Chavez Legacy Foundation, who is pushing for the Sanctuary law.
San Antonio is the only one of the major cities in Texas that is not
formally declared to be a 'Sanctuary City.' That declaration would
involve policies that prevent local police from inquiring about a
person's immigration status, and would prohibit officials from directly
cooperating with federal immigration officials when it comes to
notifying them if people who are held in the Bexar County Jail are here
illegally.
"This will certainly give us a door open here in San Antonio for our lobbying efforts," he said.
Martinez says while the measure to declare San Antonio to be a
'Sanctuary City' is not ready to be introduced in the City Council,
Council is set to hear from Police officials next week on what their
policy is regarding immigration law enforcement.
Local Police,under Chief William McManus and interim Chief Anthony Trevino have
generally focused on enforcing local and state criminal law. McManus
has said that if police start inquiring about the immigration status of
individuals who call for police assistance, that will make victims less
likely to call police, and create a class of victims who criminals can
victimize with impunity.
The concept of the 'Sanctuary City' has been under fire recently following the murder of a woman in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times, but was not turned over to immigration officials due to that city's 'Sanctuary City' policies. Opponents of Sanctuary City law say were it not for that policy, the shooting suspect would have been in federal custody, and not free to shoot innocent women.
But supporters of Sanctuary Cities say illegal immigrants pay millions of dollars each
year in Taxes, support local businesses with their purchases, generally are honestly employed, and should not have to face the constant threat of arrest and deportation.
There are an estimated 1.1 million illegal immigrants in Texas today.
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