Democrats and open border advocates are staging a hunger strike in Texas against the State’s proposed anti-sanctuary city bill. Its backers are asking for support using #FastAgainstSB4.
One Texas Democrat said a communion wafer on Sunday was the last meal she is going to have until after Wednesday when the Texas House debates the bill.
Representative Victoria Neave (D-Mesquite) announced her intention to conduct the four-day fast after Mass at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadeloupe in Dallas. She encouraged people to “wear black when you head to ATX on Wed. to #FillTheGallery.” The Texas House will debate the sanctuary city bill on Wednesday.
Those with the “Indivisible” movement in Texas tweeted, “We’ve gotten word from several people who will join @Victoria4Texas’ fast in solidarity.” The group wants those who plan to fast to tag them so they can retweet.
The movement in the state and the country follows the “Indivisible Guide” whose stated mission is “stopping Trump from implementing an agenda built on racism, authoritarianism, and corruption.” Indivisible chapters have sprung-up all over Texas. Their guide also provides “A local strategy targeting individual Members of Congress.” The guide is written in English and Spanish, and there is audio as well as written versions.
House members are being urged “to do everything possible to #StopSB4.”
SB 4 was passed by the Texas Senate in early February, right after the start of the new legislative session. The House State Affairs Committee held a hearing on March 15 after holding the “emergency item” for almost a month. More than 600 people signed up to testify. Democrat organized witnesses who testified were overwhelmingly against the legislation. The committee approved the bill by a vote of 7-5 along partisan lines. The bill was placed on the emergency calendar for April 26 after being considered in Calendars on April 20.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the watered-down version extracts the teeth of the bill by cutting the provisions that would strip state criminal justice grants to renegade cities and counties. It also removes civil liabilities from government officials who did not honor immigration detainers and released criminal aliens that later commit crimes. The House version bars law enforcement officers from asking a person about their immigration status unless they have been arrested.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott listed addressing sanctuary cities as an emergency item during his 2017 State of the State Address before a joint session of the legislature in January. As reported by Breitbart Texas, he told the members of the Texas House and Senate, “Elected officials don’t get to pick and choose which laws they obey.” The Governor responded after SB 4 was passed in February by reiterating that message and stating, “As Governor, I will not tolerate sanctuary city policies that put the citizens of Texas at risk.”
Apparently expressing his desire for the bill’s passage, Abbott tweeted to the Texas House on March 19, “It’s time to get this Sanctuary city bill passed & to my desk for signing.”
The communications director for Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus responded to a Breitbart Texas inquiry in December by stating, “Speaker Straus will work with fellow House Members, Governor Abbott, and law enforcement to ensure that there are no sanctuary cities in Texas.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.
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