The Libertarian Party of Denton County opposes SB4 in the Texas State Legislature (“Sanctuary City Ban”). Not only would this law violate the rights of nonviolent Texas Immigrants, it violates the constitutional rights of cities to govern their municipalities.

The bill represents an enormous overreach of the power of the State over cities and sets a precedent by allowing the State to prosecute local officials for representing the will of their constituents.

A Cato Institute study, released in March of 2017, found that immigrants are less likely to be violent offenders than American born citizens. This shows that, once again, the Texas State Government is trying govern based on unfounded fears of nonviolent people. This bill would also make Texas Immigrants less likely to report the violent criminal behaviors of others to local law enforcement out of fear that they themselves would be detained and deported in the process.

The Libertarian Party of Denton County also supports the efforts of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, Austin Mayor Steve Adler, and San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor to block the bill in their lawsuit. We also implore the mayors and city councils of Denton County to join them in their fight.

We ask that those who disagree with a city’s status as a “Sanctuary” to join us against this attempt to usurp local government rights by the State. An attack on the rights of one city is an attack on the rights of every city and township in the state of Texas.

Texas is a state founded on the idea of small government at a time when the US Government had considerably less power than it does today. SB4 goes against the Texas Constitution, Municipal Rights, and the very ideas that Texas was born from.

The Denton County Libertarian Party