Texas Senate passes anti-sanctuary background verification bill

The Texas Senate recently voted along party lines to pass Special Session Senate Bill 9, known as the anti-sanctuary bill. The legislation would revoke state aid from local governments that prohibit their police officers from asking citizens stopped for probable cause about their immigration status, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Additionally, the legislation will make all jails in the state conduct citizenship background checks, and require identity verification to be provided in order to obtain a Texas driver's license. The seven Hispanics in the chamber voiced concerns that the bill would lead to racial profiling of Latinos, according to the Star-Telegram. "I shouldn't have to prove my citizenship because my skin is a little darker than yours," said Democrat Carlos Uresti of San Antonio. "This bill is hurtful, it's ignorant and it's offensive." In a recent editorial for the Houston Chronicle, Senator Tommy Williams, a Republican from The Woodlands who authored the bill, maintained, "SB 9 is intended to protect all Texans from illegal criminal and terrorist alien activities, regardless of the illegal alien's country of origin."