Broad Coalition Of San Marcos Civic Groups To Deliver Copy Of Anti-SB 4 Resolution To City Hall

Draft of municipal legislation opposing Senate Bill 4 accompanied by 600+ petition signatures, as well as names of 50 “loyal & local” businesses & a dozen local clergy calling on City Council to fight the nation’s most extreme anti-immigrant law.

by, Jordan Buckley

Update: This article has been updated to correct an error. May Olvera Herz is the opinions editor not the news editor.

SAN MARCOS, TX –  Members of LULAC Council #654, Mano Amiga, San Marcos Cinema Club, Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos, as well as business owners & local clergy — a dozen of whom just published a powerful op/ed “prayerfully encourag[ing] City Council to take as strong & active a stand as possible in opposition to SB 4 & on the side of immigrants in this dreadful moment” — will present a draft resolution to City Council at San Marcos City Hall,  630 E. Hopkins, on Thursday, July 27th at 11 AM.

SB 4 bans so-called sanctuary communities (city, county or state) by punishing jurisdictions that do not comply with federal immigration officials. The bill was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in May & takes effect Sept. 1, 2017.

Former Mayor Frank Arredondo — founder & current Vice President of LULAC Council #654, the nation’s first civil rights organization to file a lawsuit against Texas over SB 4 — said, “Our Council voted overwhelming to oppose SB 4. In addition to sending a letter to the editor, the membership agreed to have a resolution composed stating our local opposition to this discriminatory legislation.”

LULAC National President Roger C. Rocha, Jr, said, “SB 4 impermissibly extends immigration enforcement to local officials by forcing local government entities to cooperate with immigration-enforcement efforts in a way that violates federal law — both constitutionally & statutorily. In addition to being unconstitutional, it is bad policy. SB 4 will promote distrust between local law enforcement & the community at large.”

Ruben Becerra — former Downtown Business Association president & current owner of Gil’s Broiler & Dixie Cream Donuts, two restaurants among roughly 50 “loyal & local businesses” calling on City Council to sue Texas — didn’t waste words: “SB 4 is unconstitutional.”

Many national organizations & corporations have begun to honor a boycott against travel to Texas due to SB 4.

Andrea Torres, San Marcos Cinema Club spokeswoman, spoke to effects of the SB 4-triggered boycott on their upcoming Lost River Film Festival in November: “We’ve been forced to rethink our outreach strategy; while we initially hoped to draw a decent turnout from out-of-state filmmakers, the reality of this boycott — if it looks anything like Arizona’s boycott after they passed an anti-immigrant law in 2010 — means we must instead shift focus to recruiting filmmakers & filmgoers from inside Texas.  However, if any out-of-staters do attend, we’ll be certain to promote the “loyal & local businesses” in San Marcos who are doing what it takes to fight this hateful law.”

The editorial board of the University Star — the Texas State campus paper, which President Lyndon B. Johnson once served as editor-in-chief — endorsed the campaign for San Marcos City Council to join litigation over SB 4.  

Last week, Opinions Editor May Olvera Herz wrote, “While City Council obsesses over branding, it refuses to take a stand on the racist, anti-immigrant Senate Bill 4 that will target the most vulnerable of San Martians,” dismissing the perceived foot-dragging of municipal leadership as “a complete disappointment.”