A wave of anti-illegal immigration proposals have been felt around the country.
Here in Texas, Governor Rick Perry has asked legislators to help abolish those 'sanctuary cities' that protect undocumented immigrants.
Local State Representative Rene Oliveira is aware of Perry's proposal and is against it.
"Some proposals are very drastic. Any city that is a sanctuary city, if we could even define what that is, could lose funding,” said Representative Oliveira.
If the measure is approved, the law would force police to check the immigration status of all those who are detained or arrested even for a traffic violation.
"We have to separate the issue of immigration law. They are primarily if not an exclusively a federal measure. Most cities and law enforcement do not want to be enforcing immigration law,” added Oliveira.
The term "sanctuary city" has no legal meaning, but it generally refers to a municipality that has a higher number of Hispanics who do not speak English, and those who offer jobs to people without checking immigration status.
Penalizing “sanctuary cities” has become a priority for Perry and has been declared a legislation emergency issue.
But other officials say this can bring negative side effects on society including cities like Brownsville.
"Cities would be facing major problems because our jails are full, we wouldn't have a place to keep these people,” said Representative Oliveira who claims there's no such thing as a sanctuary city and he wants to do away with the label completely.
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