This blog on Texas education contains posts on higher education, as well as preK-12 policy accountability, testing, bilingual education, immigration, school finance, race, class, and gender issues at both the state and national level. It also represents my digital footprint, of life and career, as a community-engaged scholar in Texas.
Friends, Wrap your heads around this: Texas has about 11.4 million Hispanic residents as compared with 11.9 million whites. These trends and numbers are astounding given the disparities we continue to see today with respect to Hispanic representation in our flagship institutions, legislative, school board, and city council representation, the teacher workforce, and white collar occupations and industries, as a whole. So much of this does connect to the vote as this piece suggests, but any close reading of Texas history shows that it's deeper than that. Much deeper. Consider for instance, an underlying dynamic that journalist, Michelle Garcia, identifies in her recent CNN Opinion piece posted to this blog titled "In Texas, A call to action against white supremacy."
"Attacking Latinos is deeply woven into the genetic coding of the state that was built on the perception that some are more worthy to govern than others."
So the "problem" isn't simply reducible to Hispanics not voting when everything has been done legally and extralegally to curtail it. That said, we can expect the seemingly unending forms of discrimination, prejudice, and exclusion that we're witnessing in full view today bodes positively for Hispanic voter turnout in 2020 whereaccording to estimates by the Pew Research Center (cited by Garcia), "Latinos are projected to be the largest non-white voting group in 2020." Accordingly, please note the following pertinent info provided by Laura Yeager of Texas Educators Vote:
The deadline to register to vote in the November 5thelection is October 7th. There will be 10 constitutional amendments on the ballot and special legislative elections will be held that day also. Creating a culture of voting means voting in every election. Make sure everyone you know is registered to vote!
To do:1.Check your voter registration status. https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do2.Apply to registerto vote if you are not already registered.https://webservices.sos.state.tx.us/vrapp/index.asp3. If you don’t have a printer, stamp, or want to look up your county election office, go toRegister2Voteand get a completed voter registration application sent to you to sign and put in the mail. This saves you some steps, but takes a little extra time, so do it today!https://register2vote.org/Social Media Posts to share:-Make sure you are registered to vote. Deadline to register for the Nov. 5 constitutional amendment election is Oct. 7th. #txed #txlege #vote #TxEdVote-Vote in every election. Make sure you are registered today! #txed #txlege #vote #TxEdVote
Texas' white plurality is this close to being over, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Any day now, it seems, the state is set to become majority Hispanic.
According to the bureau's 2018 population estimates, Texas has about 11.9 million white, non-Hispanic residents, compared with 11.4 million self-identified Hispanic residents. In 2010, the earliest year for which data is provided in the Census report, there were 9.5 million Hispanics living in Texas, compared with 11.4 million non-Hispanic whites.
While Hispanic population growth has easily outpaced white population growth from 2010 to 2018, the differences in growth over the last year are even starker. Texas' white population grew by about 24,000 residents in 2018. Its Hispanic population grew by almost 215,000.
Texas Hispanics' population growth has not been mirrored at the ballot box. According to Census Bureau data released earlier this year, about 1.9 million Hispanics voted in Texas' 2018 election, an increase of more than 800,000 from the state's previous midterm in 2014. That might sound like a big jump, but given that Texas' total turnout went up from under five million to more than eight million, Hispanic voters' relative electoral impact went up only about two percentage points, from about 23% of the electorate to about 25%.
White Texans are still over-represented at the ballot box, which is reflected in the policies pursued by Texas Republicans like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
"Basically, I think you can contrast the Dan Patrick versus (former Texas Gov.) Rick Perry approach," Rice University political scientist Mark Jones told the Observer in 2018 in an interview about Hispanic political power in Texas and when it might flip the state. "If all Republicans were like Rick Perry, you wouldn't have a significant disconnect between obtaining a significant percentage of the Latino vote and the policies pursued by Republican officeholders. Perry was always very astute in avoiding issues that would've damaged his standing and that of the Republican Party among Latinos who otherwise would be favorably disposed to vote for Republicans. He always focused on border security. He never focused on anything that would've involved the deportation of Latinos already in the country."
With Perry out of office and President Donald Trump in the White House, Texas Republicans have become more extreme on immigration issues. During the 2017 legislative session, Texas lawmakers famously passed Senate Bill 4, the state's "sanctuary cities" law, which threatened local elected officials with being removed from office if they failed to comply with orders from federal immigration enforcement officers. This year, Texas Senate Republicans forced through a ceremonial but controversial resolution affirming Trump's claims that there is a crisis at Texas' Mexican border.
Republicans' continued focus on the border and demonization of immigrants is already having an effect on Texas' Latino electorate, according to activists.
"With the Latino community, it's always very interesting because there's a segment that's been loyal to the Republican Party specifically because of the abortion issue," Carlos Duarte, the Texas director of Mi Familia Vota, a group that supports civic engagement among Latinos, told the Observer just before the election in November. "People would say, 'I'm conflicted because, on the one side, I want to vote for Democrats because of their positions on immigration, but on the other, I want to vote for my soul and therefore vote Republican because of the abortion issue.'
"This year, what I am seeing is that people are fed up, particularly with President Trump, and I have had several conversations where people are saying, 'I used to be a Republican, I've been a Republican all of my life, my family has been Republican, but we cannot take this anymore and now me and my family are going to vote Democrat.'"
In 2018, 64% of Hispanic voters in Texas said they cast their ballot for Democrat Beto O'Rourke, according to Pew Research, compared with the 47% who voted for Democrat David Alameel against John Cornyn in 2014. White turnout saved Republican Ted Cruz, but there's a chance Republicans are mortgaging their future for marginal short-term gains.
"I think (Gov. Greg) Abbott still wants to try to occupy ground that is similar, if a little bit to the right, of where Rick Perry was," Jones said last year, suggesting the governor might moderate after Trump leaves office. "It's not clear at all to me that Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton are interested in doing that. I think they still have a much more short-term vision that's focused on Republican primary voters. They seem much less concerned about the future of the party. They're much more focused on winning in 2018 and perhaps winning the Republican primary in 2022 for whatever office that might be, but they're unconcerned about where the party will go in the 2020s."
God forbid that Governor Abbott would "win the next generation" of Hispanics as he indicates here. Frankly, I don't know how any self-respecting Mexican American or Latina/o, generally, can support this governor with his racist, anti-Mexican policies and party, especially SB4. In a speech he recently gave to Hispanic republicans, he said, to applause, that Democrats seek to divide the state, using race as a way to divide it. Por favor, gobernador. Nothing could be more divisive and racist than SB4 which has nothing to do with law enforcement (Link). Heck, being an undocumented individual isn't itself even a crime (Link). It's more like a traffic violation. If this were anything different from what simple logic and credible sources indicate, you would have received major law enforcement support for this bill during the last legislative session (read further hear in this piece by Greg Pulte on SB4 and the Immigration Industrial Complex). Another way to parse this out is to read the 2016 Republican Party Platform itself. Of course, all of this will appeal to colonized "Hispanics"—or whatever you want to call them—those that accept the dominant group's portrayal of them. My friends, despite the governor's appeal for Texas' first Hispanic
governor to be a republican, the last thing we need is a "Colonizer in
Chief," whether republican or democrat.
How bad are things right now for Hispanics right now? Really bad. If you do not know anything about this, check out my recent posts, especially this one titled, America’s Future Is Texas by Lawrence Wright. I am deeply concerned about the largely indifferent, if not callous, leadership in our state. So go ahead, governor. Give it a try. I hope our community, especially Hispanic republicans, have the cojones to stand up to you, your party, and your president and the hateful rhetoric and policies that seek not to empower Hispanics, but to weaken and divide us.
Abbott chases bigger share of Hispanic vote in 2018
As he seeks another term in
2018, Gov. Greg Abbott is seeking to build on the inroads he made with
Hispanic voters when he first ran for governor in 2014.
SAN ANTONIO. Greg Abbott
may not have a serious opponent for re-election yet, but he is already
running against one group in particular: those who say Texas’ Republican
governor can’t make further inroads with the Hispanic community in the
era of Texas' "sanctuary cities" banand Donald Trump.
Abbott made that much clear here Saturday as he addressed his
campaign’s inaugural Hispanic Leadership Conference, rallying the
Republican crowd against Democrats looking to unseat him — and laying
the groundwork for a longer-term push for Hispanic GOP support.
“What we know is whoever they drum up to run against me, we are going
to run against and we’re going to defeat,” Abbott said. "But what I
want you to know is that far more important than running this race and
running to win this race, we are running to win the next generation.”
The conference, attended by 250 activists, was the first in a series
geared toward a goal that’s becoming central to Abbott’s re-election
bid: growing the 44 percent share of the Hispanic vote he received in
2014. Looking to 2018, his campaign wants to not only build on that
number but do so substantially, with an eye on capturing a majority.
The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.
“We plan to wage, if necessary, hand-to-hand combat with our
opponents to win the Hispanic vote,” Dave Carney, Abbott’s political
chief, said in a recent interview.
Abbott, who made the Rio Grande Valley his first stop after launching
his re-election campaign in July, is so far chasing the Hispanic vote
without the presence of a serious Democratic opponent in 2018, though
the party insists one will emerge. In the meantime, Democratspoint
to a variety of factors they believe will hinder Abbott’s outreach
efforts, including his party’s incendiary president, Donald Trump, and
the state’s new "sanctuary cities" law that Abbott championed.
Senate Bill4 in particular, they say, presents a
steep new obstacle for Abbott to overcome with the Hispanic community,
which he wooed in 2014 by touting that his wife, Cecilia, would become
the state’s first Hispanic first lady.
“It’s a completely different world now,” said Cristóbal Alex,
president of the Latino Victory Project, a Democratic group that works
to elect Latinos. “Here’s the thing: Yes, Greg Abbott’s wife is a Latina
and I hear that she’s a good person, but Abbott is really a Category 5
disaster for Latinos and the people of the state of Texas.”
In an interview after his speech, Abbott pushed back on the
Democratic focus on SB 4, which aims to punish local law enforcement
officials who do not fully cooperate with federal immigration
authorities. It has raised concerns about racial profiling, but Abbott
said hesees the law as more of an asset than a
liability as he reaches out to Hispanic voters. The Hispanic community,
he said, “wants safe communities just like everybody else.”
When it comes to Trump, Abbott expressed confidence that Texas Latinos see him as “completely independent.”
“They know and we’ll continue to educate them about my historic
connection with the Hispanic community and about how my values and
principles connect with the values and principles of the Hispanic
community,” Abbott said. “So any and all money spent trying to connect
me to Donald Trump is like setting that money on fire and incinerating
it.”
Abbott supported Trump when he became the GOP’s presidential nominee
last year but kept his distance at times. Since Trump has taken office,
the two have aligned on a host of issues, including the push to outlaw
so-called “sanctuary cities” — which Abbott spearheaded long before
Trump won the White House.
“Donald Trump is pushing the policies that Greg Abbott has crafted in
Texas,” said Manny Garcia, the deputy executive director of the Texas
Democratic Party. "The Greg Abbott playbook is what Donald Trump is
trying to do.”
In addition to being deeply skeptical of Abbott's push for Latino
support, Democrats like Garcia question whether Abbott really received
44 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2014. The oft-cited number is based
on exit polling, which some pollsters have criticized as misrepresentative of Hispanic voters, particularly in the wake of the 2016 presidential election.
Abbott began his speech here Saturday by evoking the centerpiece of
his Hispanic outreach since he launched his 2014 campaign: his wife,
Cecilia Abbott, the first Hispanic first lady of Texas. Sprinkling in
some Spanish — mi familia to refer to his wife's side of the
family — he spoke of his connection to the Hispanic community through
his marriage to her, as well as the values he believes the community
shares with the GOP: faith, family and freedom.
It was a largely apolitical speech until Abbott pivoted to a
discussion of the challenges Texas faces going forward — namely from
“Democrats who seek to divide us as a state,” Abbott said.
“They’re trying to use race as a way to divide us. They are messing
with the wrong state,” Abbott said to applause, going on to invoke the
unity Texans have showed in the wake of a Category 4 storm. “Perhaps
they did not get the message that Texas sent in our response to
Hurricane Harvey.”
Toward the end of his speech, as he urged more Hispanic Republicans
to run for office, Abbott pulled out a baton. Abbott, an avid runner
before the paralyzing accident he suffered in 1984, said he plans to
keep the baton, which he signed and left a message on, in his office.
That is, he added, until he can hand it off to the next Hispanic
Republican to win statewide office — maybe even the highest of all.
Most recently, Hispanic Republicans have won election to statewide positions including land commissioner (George P. Bush) and state Supreme Court justice (Eva Guzman). But the top office has remained elusive — for Hispanics of both parties.
“The first Hispanic governor must be a Republican,” Abbott said, pausing between words for emphasis.
Abbott is hoping to keep engaged Hispanic Republicans like Rudy
Madrid, who unseated a Democrat in 2014 to become Kleberg County judge —
making him the southernmost GOP county judge in Texas. In an interview
on the sidelines of Saturday’s conference, Madrid recounted how he grew
up a Democrat but drifted toward the GOP after a stint in the military.
Then he found himself solidly in Abbott’s camp during the 2014
gubernatorial race, drawn to the governor’s fiscal conservatism, among
other things.
As Abbott asks Hispanic supporters like Madrid for another term, the
county judge says he has not seen any cause for regret during Abbott’s
first two and a half years in office. He said he has been particularly
impressed with Abbott's commitment to overhauling the state's child
welfare system.
“After following him and after having the honor of being on his team,
he’s won me over tenfold now,” Madrid said. “It’s only gotten better,
and it’s going to get better.” Read related Tribune coverage:
Before sign-waving supporters, Gov. Greg Abbott formally launched his
re-election campaign Friday in San Antonio, days before he brings the
Texas Legislature back for a special session. [Full story]
Gov. Greg Abbott has a nearly $41 million war chest heading into his
re-election campaign — and a special session in which he's looking to
keep political pressure on lawmakers to pass an ambitious 20-item
agenda. [Full story]
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.
I'm really impressed with our Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) members that have gracefully and righteously weathered the hateful and violent vitriol that Rep. Matt Rinaldi spewed out with his threatening words. If you have any doubts about this, check out the MALC press conference video and listen to them speak, one by one. They share not just what happened, but also how disgusted they were with Rinaldi as, in effect, characterizing all Mexicans as illegal and engaged in illegal activity when all we, as protesters were doing, was exercising our First Amendment right to protest.
So yes, several MALC members reacted strongly, but never to the actual point of violence or fisticuffs. What do you expect when Rinaldi is one of the reasons why the legislative session lacked civility and decorum? A reporter even asked if this means whether the system is "broken." Legislators unflinchingly, if generously, responded that Rinaldi is the one that's "broken" and that most members get along even if they don't always agree.
A better question may be how they exercise such incredible restraint in environments like the legislature where deep-seated racism, sexism, and homophobia permeate with such license and entitlement. It sure isn't easy...
I heard a great NPR interview of Minnesota Senator Al Franken this afternoon where he shared his version of the "Serenity Prayer":
God
grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot legislate, the
courage to legislate the things I can, and the wisdom to know the
difference, and the patience to explain that difference to my donors.
... It is exactly true.
Such great wisdom and humor. He has written a book and it's titled, "Al Franken: Giant of the Senate" (Twelve Books). Sounds like a fun read. It's already a New York Times best seller.
My friends, this is a moment to step back and recommit, with intention, to light and faith, rather than to fretting, fear, or fear-mongering. This is a proud moment for the MALC, our community, and democracy. SÃ se puede! Yes we can!
Do listen to the MALC press conference video to gain a better sense of what I mean.
We all owe ourselves an applause, a break from the extended, unrelenting beat of harmful, racist rhetoric and behavior, as well as a hard-earned right to a lot of self care.😊
Texas
House Rep. Poncho Nevarez of district 74 speaks about the altercation
that he was involved on the house floor during the last day of session
at the state Capitol in Austin Monday, May 29, 2017. A raucous end to a
divisive Texas legislative session erupted Monday when a large protest
over a “sanctuary cities” crackdown provoked a heated scuffle between
lawmakers on the House floor. (Ricardo Brazziell/Austin
American-Statesman via AP
AUSTIN,
Texas (AP) — A Hispanic Texas lawmaker who a Republican colleague
threatened to shoot "in self-defense" after the Democrat pushed him said
Tuesday that the altercation was a boiling point in a session where
minority members were powerless to stop conservative legislation they
say is discriminatory.Tensions
erupted on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives on Monday
when Republican state Rep. Matt Rinaldi told Democrats he called U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents about demonstrators in the
gallery holding signs that read "I am illegal and here to stay."
Hundreds
of immigrant-rights activists — many of whom were Hispanic — had jammed
the state Capitol on the final day before the Texas Legislature
adjourned until 2019. Some came from as far as Arizona to protest a
"sanctuary city" crackdown that will allow police starting September to
ask people during routine stops whether they're in the U.S. legally.
Democratic
state Rep. Poncho Nevarez did not deny pushing Rinaldi, who wrote on
Facebook that he told Nevarez after being threatened that "I would shoot
him in self-defense." Nevarez said he was "sick of" the attitudes
toward Hispanics in the Legislature and was taking a stand.
"Another
legislator sidled up to me yesterday and said, 'Those aren't Americans
up there.'" said Nevarez, referring to the protesters in the gallery.
"I
think there are some people in some moments that bring out racism. They
want to believe that they're not racist because when they deal with me
I'm one of the 'good' ones. But I'm just one of the folks up there," he
said of the protesters.
A
phone message left at Rinaldi's office was not returned Tuesday but GOP
colleagues rebuked accusations of racism. Rinaldi wrote on Facebook
that he was under the protection of state troopers.
"I
think yesterday was the symptom of what's been a difficult, challenging
and emotional session. No one has totally clean hands but what happened
on the floor with the physical attack on Matt was beyond the pale,"
Republican state Rep. Jeff Leach said.
Republican
Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the "sanctuary ban" known as SB4 this
month, has stayed quiet over the skirmish and a spokesman did not return
messages Tuesday. Nevarez said he wanted Abbott to come out and
publicly say that Rinaldi calling immigration authorities was wrong.
A
Democrat hasn't won a statewide office since 1994 — the nation's
longest such political losing streak — frustrating a party that has seen
the state's Hispanic population boom but hasn't had its electoral
fortunes change. About 43 percent of Texas residents are white, while
whites make up the majority of legislators.
The
tensions flared at the end of the divisive session in Texas in which
race was invoked in debates over immigration, voting rights, border
security and policing. Among the bills sent to Abbott's desk are changes
to a voter ID law that a federal judge has ruled was intentionally
discriminatory. Another was the "Sandra Bland Act," named for a black
woman who died in a Texas jail in 2015 following a confrontational
traffic stop with a white state trooper. Bland's family were
disappointed after police accountability measures were removed.
Democrat
state Rep. Helen Giddings, who was first elected in 1992 and heads
Texas' black legislative caucus, blamed politics, not race, for the tone
of the session.
"In
my years in the Texas House I have never seen the kind of disrespect,
intolerance, incivility that we are seeing in the Texas Legislature,"
Giddings said. "Intolerable, became acceptable. Behavior we had never
thought of as acceptable became acceptable."___
Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber
The incident happened as more than 1,000 immigrant rights supporters flooded the Texas Capitol.
State Representative Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving Sam DeGrave
A Texas Republican threatened to “put a bullet in one of his
colleague’s heads” during a scuffle on the House floor over the state’s
new anti-‘sanctuary cities’ law on Monday, the final day of the regular
legislative session. Representative Matt Rinaldi,
R-Irving, made the comment to Representative Poncho Nevárez during a
dispute that began when Rinaldi told two Hispanic lawmakers that he
called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Senate Bill 4
protesters at the Capitol. “There was a subsequent exchange
between my brother Poncho and Representative Rinaldi and there was a
threat made from Rinaldi to put a bullet in one of my colleague’s
heads,” Representative Justin Rodriguez told reporters after the
incident. “That kind of threatening language, he needs to be called out
and held accountable for.”
Rinaldi later said on Facebook
that he called immigration agents “on several illegal immigrants who
held signs in the gallery which said ‘I am illegal and here to stay.'”
Rinaldi accused Nevárez of repeatedly threatening him on the House floor
during the scuffle.
“I made it clear that if he attempted to, in his words, ‘get me,’ I
would shoot him in self defense,” Rinaldi said. “I would shoot him in
self defense. I am currently under DPS protection.”
Nevárez responded on Twitter: “He’s a liar and hateful man. Got no use for him. God bless him.”
Nina Pruneda, a spokesperson for ICE, told the Observer she was not immediately sure whether the agency sent immigration agents to the Capitol in response to Rinaldi’s call. Earlier, at the beginning of the
incident, Rinaldi told Romero on the House floor that the hundreds of
protesters who were chanting in the gallery were a “disgrace,” Romero
told the Observer. Representatives Ramon Romero Jr. and Cesar Blanco (right) Sam DeGrave“Fuck them, I called ICE,” Rinaldi said, according to Romero. Romero said that prompted
Representative Cesar Blanco to tell Rinaldi that Italian immigrants “are
just like us,” and Rinaldi responded, “Yeah, but we love our country.” “He saw a bunch of people who look Latino, and he assumed they were undocumented,” Romero told the Observer. “So how can he say SB 4 won’t lead to racial profiling?” The comments nearly sparked a fight among the three lawmakers before their colleagues broke it up, Romero said. “I’ve never seen anything like this on the House floor,” Romero said. To support journalism like this, donate to the Texas Observer.The dispute came as Blanco and Romero
were proudly discussing the hundreds of protesters who filled the
gallery with banners and chants and were ultimately kicked out, Romero
said. House rules prohibit any show of support or opposition from the
gallery. Watch video of the entire protest below:
The Monday protest, attended by more
than 1,000 immigrant rights supporters, coincided with sine die, the
Texas Legislature’s final day at work (barring a special session to take up a bathroom bill). The dispute is the latest in several contentious moments
around Senate Bill 4, the anti-’sanctuary cities’ law that critics say
will encourage racial profiling and tear immigrant families apart. The law, which goes into effect September 1, will allow police to ask people who’ve been detained — not just arrested
— about their immigration status. It also threatens to jail law
enforcement officials who limit cooperation with federal immigration
agents. The law has already prompted at least three Texas cities to take
legal action against the state.
At 3 a.m. Sunday, around 50 protesters met in front of the governor’s mansion near the Capitol in Austin for a musically themed protest of Senate Bill 4.
The crowd blared mariachi music through a megaphone for about an hour,
holding signs that read “no bedtime for bigots,” “goodnight SB 4” and
“you’ve disturbed our peace, so we’re disturbing yours.” Keep up with the ongoing protests at the Capitol below:
