Texas Governor to Sign Legislation That Can Put Sheriffs of Sanctuary Cities in Jail

Steve Malzberg: “I know you brought up the possibility of jailing such Sheriffs recently.” 

Greg Abbott: “We have. It’s a two-step process. One, as Governor I could unilaterally use my office to take funds away from Travis County that had been previously granted to them under Governor’s grants for criminal justice reasons and we have defunded them to the tune of $1.5 million. In addition to that, we have been pushing a piece of legislation in Texas that is going to pass that I will be signing into law that imposes even sterner penalties on counties. Uh it will include things such as further defunding them and it could impose jail time for the Sheriffs to enforce the laws. Oddly enough these Sheriffs could wind up behind the very bars they are releasing these very criminals from.”