This blog on Texas education contains posts on accountability, testing, K-12 education, postsecondary educational attainment, dropouts, bilingual education, immigration, school finance, environmental issues, Ethnic Studies at state and national levels. It also represents my digital footprint, of life and career, as a community-engaged scholar in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin.
Friday, June 02, 2017
Attorney: Matt Rinaldi’s Call to ICE Will Likely Be Used Against SB 4 in Lawsuit
Rinalidi's calling of ICE on protesters against SB4 will now be used in a lawsuit to support the view that SB4 was passed with “discriminatory
intent.”
The Republican lawmaker’s call to ICE will “almost assuredly” be used to show ‘discriminatory intent,’ an attorney said.
A protester raises a sign saying “I’m here to stay” in the main rotunda of the Texas Capitol. Sam DeGraveA Texas lawmaker’s decision to report
protesters to immigration police Monday could come back to haunt the
state when it defends the law in court, an attorney involved in the case
said Thursday. On Monday, Representative Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after hundreds of mostly Latino activists filled the House gallery to protest Senate Bill 4, the controversial ‘sanctuary cities’ ban. Jose Garza, an attorney representing El Paso County in its suit against SB 4, told the Observer
that the incident will “almost assuredly” be used to help establish in
court that the Texas Legislature passed the law with “discriminatory
intent.”
“This was a peaceful protest and many were citizens,” Garza said, “and Rinaldi sicced ICE on them because they were brown.” State Representative Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving Sam DeGraveRinaldi, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus and an outspoken supporter of SB 4, said
in a statement on Monday that he called ICE after seeing signs that
read “I am illegal.” After several people, including Democratic
lawmakers, said there was no evidence of those signs, Rinaldi clarified
in a radio interview Thursday that the signs read “undocumented and unafraid” and “undocumented and here to stay.” El Paso County and the City of El
Cenizo have both sued the state over SB 4, and Austin and San Antonio
have announced plans to take legal action as well. Texas Attorney
General Ken Paxton pre-emptively filed his own lawsuit, which he hopes
will lead to a judge declaring the law constitutional, shortly after
Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 4 into law. SB 4 is set to go into effect
September 1. Opponents hope a federal injunction will halt the measure
before that date. Proving “discriminatory intent” in the lawmaking
process is part of their legal strategy. Thanks to an amendment by Rinaldi’s
fellow House Freedom Caucus member Matt Schaefer, SB 4 will allow
police to ask people who’ve been detained — not just arrested
— about their immigration status. The law also threatens to jail law
enforcement officials who limit cooperation with federal immigration
agents. Rinaldi’s call to ICE Monday nearly prompted a fistfight
on the House floor. Representative Ramon Romero Jr. said Rinaldi’s call
to ICE demonstrates how the law licenses discrimination. “[Rinaldi] saw a bunch of people who look Latino, and he assumed they were undocumented,” Romero told the Observer on Monday. “So how can he say SB 4 won’t lead to racial profiling?”
Gus Bova is a reporter-researcher at the Observer. He focuses on immigration, the U.S.-Mexico border and grassroots movements. Before the Observer, he worked at a shelter for asylum-seekers and refugees. You can contact him at bova@texasobserver.org.
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