Op-Ed: Grassroots to Abbott, Why Wait Until 2017 to Stop Sanctuary Cities

Editor’s Note: This Op-Ed was written and submitted to Breitbart Texas by JoAnn Fleming, executive director for Grassroots America – We the People PAC.

We support Governor Abbott’s position and remedies expressed in his letter released on Monday regarding the Dallas County Sheriff’s refusal to honor federal immigration detainer policy, but this issue goes far beyond Dallas County and one rogue sheriff.

The Dallas County Sheriff’s declaration is an open invitation to lawlessness. It increases the risk that dangerous criminals will be returned to our communities, putting the public and our law enforcement officers at even greater risk. This is directly related to the entire sanctuary cities issue, which we have called on state leaders to address since the 82nd legislative session (2011). They have repeatedly failed to act, in part due to cheap labor interests. This failure to act at the state level has given rise to brazen pronouncements such as that of the Dallas County Sheriff and Travis County officials.

Waiting until 2017 to address this issue increases the risk to public safety and national security. It doesn’t take 100% of those here illegally to irreparably harm lives and our way of life. As we saw with the 9/11 attacks, with the cases of slain border patrol agents Brian Terry, Robert Rosas, Luis Aguilar, and Javier Vega (August 2014), and with the murders of Joshua Wilkerson, Spencer Golvach, Kate Steinle, and hundreds of other victims, it takes far less than 100% to forever change thousands of lives. Why wait?

Even Homeland Security has declared the focus of the program the Dallas County Sheriff opposes to be those subjects related to “threats to national security, border security, and public safety,” including “aliens engaged in or suspected of terrorism or espionage.”

We support Governor Abbott’s position and remedies expressed in his letter today, but we urge him to take decisive, immediate action. Only Governor Abbott can set this right, and we urge him to do it now. Waiting until 2017 to curtail lawlessness and to reduce the threats to public safety and national security is dangerous to Texas and the rest of the nation. Why wait?