After sixteen hours of some of the most intensely emotional debate seen in the Texas Capitol in years, the Texas House, at about 3AM Thursday, approved that bill which would outlaw 'Sanctuary Cities' in Texas, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The vote was almost entirely along party lines, 93-54.
The measure, sponsored by State Rep. Charlie Geren (Ft. Worth) would not withhold state law enforcement funding from 'Sanctuary Cities' like the Senate version on the argument that much of that money goes to programs like veterans courts and anti DWI programs.
But Geren says his bill does include criminal penalties and civil liability for Sheriffs and Police Chiefs who fail to honor Immigration detainer requests.
"When a Sheriff, Constable, or Police Chief knowingly fails to comply with a detainer request, they can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor," Geren said, pointing out that charge carries a penalty of up to a year and jail and would strip a law enforcement officer of his or her right to carry a gun.
Geren said he doesn't the word 'deportation' to come up in the Sanctuary City issue, because that's not what the bill is about.
"After the detainer request is honored, and that person is picked up by the Feds, the Feds will determine if that person should be deported or not," he said. "The state does not deport."
But Geren and his supporters faced a barrage of questions from opponents of the bill, like State Rep Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin).
Rodriguez: "Don't you expect significant court challenges?"
Geren: "I would expect that a lot of what you're doing right now is trying to set one up, so I would say, yes"
Rodriguez: "No, what I trying to do is show what a lousy bill you have."
Geren: 'Well thank you for that."
Rodriguez: "You're welcome."
After the 3 AM vote, Rodriguez pointed out that several immigrant children talked against the bill in the early house of Thursday morning.
"They arrived in the early morning to share their heartfelt stores with members who support SB 4, trying to appeal to their humanity," Rodriguez said. "The children were blatantly ignored."
He and other Latino Democrats said they felt 'scared, sad, confused, and angry.'
"My colleagues voted to condemn them to a life of fear and uncertainty, to hiding in the shadows and dreading the day their parents don't come home from work. Worse, my colleagues wouldn't even give them the time of day."
Supporters even toughened the bill during the debate, to allow police to question the immigration status of people who are simply 'detained,' like during a traffic stop. The previous bill only allowed police to ask people about their immigration status after they had been 'arrested,' which is a tougher standard.
Geren repeatedly said the purpose of the bill is to fight crime.
"My constituents reached out to me to tell me they are concerned about crimes that are committed in their community by illegals and they think they ought to go home."
The bill also covers college campuses which claim to be 'sanctuaries,' even though Geren admitted during the debate that he can't name a single 'sanctuary campus' or 'sanctuary city' in Texas.
The bill now will be up for a final reading in the House, then will go to a conference committee to work out differences with a version already approved in the Senate. Governor Abbott has made this one of his top priorities and has vowed to sign it.
San Antonio City Council Intergovernmental Relations Committee on Wednesday began discussing filing a lawsuit to have the bill declared unconstitutional if it is signed by the governor.