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August 14, 2017 Elliott Griffin

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SEN. KONNI BURTON RELEASES STATEMENT ON FORT WORTH CITY COUNCIL

PROPOSAL TO JOIN LAWSUIT AGAINST SB 4

Colleyville, TX -- Today, Sen. Konni Burton (R) issued the following statement on the
proposal before the Fort Worth City Council to join the lawsuit against Senate Bill 4 (SB 4):

"As a coauthor of SB 4, I am proud of the recent work of the Texas Legislature to prohibit
so-called local "sanctuary" policies, which undermine the enforcement of our federal
immigration laws and unnecessarily risk the safety of our local communities. Protecting
our national border and providing a sane, rational system of immigration is the
responsibility of our federal government. Unfortunately, for decades the federal
government has failed in this endeavor and one of the consequences of this failure is that
millions of people who do not have legal status are residing in our nation and our state. In
the past six years, individuals without legal status have been charged with more than
566,000 crimes in Texas alone, including some of the most serious offenses in state law.
These are serious numbers, representing real victims, and the state government has a
constitutional duty to promote public safety.

The misinformation being spread about SB 4 by its opponents is extremely disheartening.

For many Texas communities, including in Tarrant County, the statewide policies
implemented by this bill are extremely similar or identical to longstanding local policies. At
its simplest, SB 4 requires local entities, such as county jails, to comply with detainer
requests, which are requests from the federal government to maintain temporary custody
of an individual so federal immigration authorities can determine if further action is
required. SB 4 does not grant police the ability to detain or arrest an individual based solely
on the suspicion they are undocumented. SB 4 does not mandate police to inquire into the
immigration status of any individual. And SB 4 certainly has nothing to do with deportation,
as the state does not have the power to deport anyone. What SB 4 does do is prohibit racial
profiling by police and prohibit police from inquiring into the immigration status of a
victim of crime or a witness of crime in almost all circumstances--a first in Texas history.
SB 4 is a commonsense policy that better promotes public safety for all Texans. While I
absolutely respect the Fort Worth City Council debating this proposal, I would encourage
the members of the council who share my support of SB 4 to stand firm and know that as
your State Senator representing much of Fort Worth, I am with you."

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