BEN BARRACK: WILL RICK PERRY MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION ON IMMIGRATION?
As Arizona’s immigration law – SB 1070 – received overwhelming public support last year, Texas Governor Rick Perry attempted to thread a political needle by talking tough on immigration while asserting that a law similar to Arizona’s “would not be the right direction for Texas.” In a case of dramatic political theater, the Texas legislature has unwittingly and quite unexpectedly, put Perry in a box he made every attempt to avoid being placed in.
As the Texas legislative session was winding down just this week, Democratic state Senator Wendy Davis (Fort Worth) made a huge blunder; she filibustered an education spending bill that could not be left unresolved, in part, because of all the funds that would be withheld from public schools as a result of it being tied to the budget.
Failure to pass the bill all but mandated that Perry call a special legislative session to resolve the impasse. However, there’s a hitch that Davis and her fellow Democrats failed to recognize. In Texas, special legislative sessions make it possible for any and all unresolved bills to come to the floor for a vote. In this case, one such bill is very similar to Arizona’s SB 1070. Perhaps even more important is the fact that a super majority is not required to bring a vote to the floor in a special session; it can be done with a simple majority.
If HB 12, dubbed the “Sanctuary Cities” bill, would have been passed and signed into law, cities and counties would have been prohibited from forcing law enforcement not to inquire about a person’s immigration status. In essence, it was a nuanced version of the Arizona law, which requires officers to check immigration status. This Texas bill would simply prevent officers from being told not to.
At the beginning of the regular session, Perry placed sanctuary cities on his list of “emergency items” he wanted the legislature to address. On its face, this would indicate he endorsed passage of such a bill. In the end though, HB 12 passed in the House but died in the Senate when it was blocked by 12 Democrats.
This leads us back to the special session. HB 9 – a bill that effectively mirrors HB 12 – has been filed by a Republican State Rep. With no need for a super majority, the odds of such a bill passing will go up exponentially. Only one thing needs to happen in order for the vote to be brought to the floor; Governor Rick Perry must add it to the list of items to consider.
On one hand, Perry has said a bill similar to the one in Arizona “would not be right for Texas.” On the other hand, he has said dealing with the issue of sanctuary cities is an “emergency” and a “priority.” To remain true to his word, Perry must allow HB 9 to be voted on before the special session ends after 30 days.
Compounding the debate further is what happened in the hours before Davis’ ill-fated filibuster. A Houston police officer named Kevin Will was killed by a drunk illegal alien with a BAC of .238. If a sanctuary city law was in place prior to Will’s death, perhaps his would-be killer would not have been in Texas at all. Will leaves behind two children and a wife who is expecting.
As the Texas Governor mulls a presidential run, he is likely hearing from political consultants and gurus that he should not touch this legislation, that doing so will dramatically hamper any such aspirations.
In reality, the opposite is true. If he listens to such consultants, he will have been exposed as someone who doesn’t mean what he says. In essence, ascribing the word “emergency” to the issue of dealing with sanctuary cities will have been nothing more than a political calculation. It will mean he talked tough only when he thought he wouldn’t be called on it. It would make him a dishonest RINO.
If Perry allows the bill to be voted on, it will quite likely get passed. If he then signs it into law, his odds of being the Republican presidential nominee in 2012 will go up. Go figure, all he has to do is ignore those consultants.
Ben Barrack is a talk show host on KTEM 1400 in Texas and maintains a website at benbarrack.com
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