Texas Lt. Gov. on Sanctuary Cities: Backers are 'Flat Wrong'

The state of Texas is following in President Trump’s footsteps by cracking down on illegal immigration, as Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law on Sunday that aims to combat sanctuary cities, and punish local authorities who defy federal law of holding suspected illegal immigrants in jail for possible deportation.

During an interview with Charles Payne on the FOX Business Network, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (R) said the bill will “protect all citizens in Texas” and is “clearly constitutional.”

Patrick cited over 212,000 criminal aliens that have been jailed and charged with 566,000 crimes between 2011 and January of this year as the backbone to his argument that “people who believe and say that sanctuary cities make us safer are just flat wrong.”

“Sanctuary cities only bring criminals into America, and give them a safe haven,” Patrick said. “These people are wrong, and it’s the cost to the victims is what counts to me, not some costs to them [local officials]. And if it costs them [local officials] money, that’s because they’re not following the law.”

On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the city of Austin, targeting local officials who refuse to cooperate with the bill that combats sanctuary cities, in what Patrick called a “preemptive strike, against of what will be the obvious lawsuits coming from the left.”

Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez, who refused to cooperate with federal immigration officials, was the “poster child for what’s wrong with America for these law enforcement officers” and really brought to light this illegal immigration issue “when she let out criminals out of jail into the streets of Austin,” said Patrick.

The Lieutenant Governor argued all sanctuary cities do is make America less safe, and that both parties are to blame for not passing legal immigration reform.

When it comes to the controversial border wall and the President’s tough stance on immigration, Patrick said “Trump is right,” and that the border needs to be secured and “have a legal system for people to come here who want to be proud Americans.”

“Today, with a border that has not been secured, particularly under the Obama administration, a lot of criminals have made their way across the border into this country and in Texas, we’re tired of it. We’re going to put an end to it, and that’s why we passed Senate Bill Four,” Patrick said.