Texas Sues San Antonio For Allegedly Violating The SB 4 Immigration Law

In its lawsuit filed Friday, the state argues it wasn’t up to the city’s police chief to release immigrants who were apparently in the U.S. illegally after being smuggled into the country.

By Jill AmentDecember 4, 2018 11:51 am

On Friday, Texas sued the city of San Antonio for violating the state’s anti-sanctuary cities law. The lawsuit, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, focuses on the San Antonio Police Department and its Chief, William McManus, saying he ordered the release of immigrants in a high-profile case, and claims that was a violation of the law often referred to as Senate Bill 4.

Brandon Rottinghaus, professor of political science at the University of Houston, says this is the first time the state has filed a case to enforce SB 4.

“To some degree it looks clear cut. The ICE enforcement agents have suggested that, essentially, that the police chief did err by not letting them handle the investigation,” Rottinghaus says. “There [is] still some litigation that’s ongoing on this and it could be that this is some place where the state and this local entity, San Antonio, fight over it.”

What you will hear in this segment:

– Why the state says San Antonio violated SB 4

– Whether Texas actually has a case against San Antonio, given that SB 4 has been challenged by other municipalities 

– What this lawsuit means for other Texas cities with sanctuary city laws 

Written by Alvaro Céspedes.