Sanctuary cities bill passes Senate committee

“Texas is not Arizona. Our culture, history and economy are based on genuine and pragmatic good will towards all residents in our state,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said. “We don't need the negative attention that would come to our state with enactment of laws perceived as anti-Hispanic.”

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Update, 5:55pm – Senate debating sanctuary cities bill, SB 9, now livestreaming

Update 2pm: Poll: Education leaps ahead as most important issue facing Texas | KUT News By Nathan Bernier – Education has displaced immigration as the most important issue in the Lone Star State, according to an annual survey sponsored by the Texas Lyceum, a non-profit leadership group. Thirty-three percent of likely voters said education is the most important issue facing the state of Texas today. Immigration, at 11 percent, was tied for second place with the state budget/deficit.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram | Monday, June 13, 2011 | By Dave Montgomery Police agencies join Hispanic leaders in opposing 'sanctuary cities' bill – The state's largest law enforcement agencies joined forces with Hispanic leaders Monday in opposing a so-called sanctuary cities bill that supporters say is a needed tool against illegal immigration. The emotion-charged bill, which Gov. Rick Rick Perry has designated as a top priority, would let law officers ask about immigration status when they arrest or detain someone. The bill heads for an expected vote today by the Republican-controlled Senate after clearing a committee on a party-line 5-4 vote.

Bloomberg News | June 13 2011 | By Joe Caroll Worst Drought in More Than a Century Threatens Texas Oil Boom – The worst Texas drought since record-keeping began 116 years ago may crimp an oil and natural-gas drilling boom as government officials ration water supplies crucial to energy exploration. In the hardest-hit areas, water-management districts are warning residents and businesses to curtail usage from rivers, lakes and aquifers. The shortage is forcing oil companies to go farther afield to buy water from farmers, irrigation districts and municipalities, said Erasmo Yarrito Jr., the state’s overseer of water supplies from the Rio Grande River . . . The water crisis in Texas, the biggest oil- and gas- producing state in the U.S., highlights a continuing debate in North America and Europe over the impact on water supplies of a production technique called hydraulic fracturing.
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By Patricia Kilday Hart
San Antonio Express-News
Read the complete story

From the testimony of a Houston police officer's widow to allegations of racism, a daylong legislative committee hearing Monday on a bill banning “sanctuary cities” brought the national immigration debate back to the Texas Capitol

The Senate's Transportation and Homeland Security Committee on Monday approved a bill that would ban cities from prohibiting police from asking about the immigration status of those they detain. Gov. Rick Perry last week added the proposal to the agenda of the Legislature's special session. A similar bill failed during the regular session.

The issue drew a crowd of advocates and opponents of the bill, with both sides staging rallies in anticipation of the hearing.

In one weekend rally, a leading proponent of the bill blamed the Legislature's inaction on the issue on the number of Hispanics who serve there.

“If you want to know why we can't pass legislation in Texas, it's because we have 37, no, 36 Hispanics in the Legislature. So, that's part of our problem, and we need to change those numbers,” said Rebecca Forest, a co-founder of the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas. “We need to do something about that in fact.”

Her remarks drew condemnation from the state's top three elected officials, all of whom support the sanctuary cities legislation as a needed tool for law enforcement.