The anti-immigrant HB 12 was passed by the Texas House.  With your help we CAN stop it in the Senate.  Final Senate Action in the Next 2 Weeks 

House Bill 12 (HB 12) is an Arizona-style bill that would divert local police officers away from enforcement of public safety laws and encourage them instead to spend their time trying to enforce federal immigration laws, guessing who might be an undocumented immigrant. 

• HB 12 would encourage racial profiling of U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who might look, sound, or seem "foreign."
   
• HB 12 is opposed by law enforcement leaders because it would undermine public safety for everyone by preventing police departments from building trust and cooperation from immigrant witnesses
  to crimes and crime victims.
   
• HB 12 would interfere with the authority of police chiefs and with the police chain of command, by specifically authorizing rogue police officers to disregard superior officers and police chiefs who want the officers to concentrate on public safety enforcement rather than federal immigration enforcement.
   
• HB 12 would authorize even peace officers and regular employees at schools, hospitals, and other agencies to become self-appointed immigration enforcers. 
   
• HB 12 would be costly to taxpayers who would foot the bill for the added burden on police resources, for new traning that would try to train local police as immigration officers, and for lawsuits resulting from mistakes and discrimination.

 PLEASE TAKE THIS ACTION NOW:

• Call the office of your Texas State Senator
  • Click here to find your state senator's name & phone
     
• Tell the person who answers the phone:
  "Sen. __________ is my senator and I ask him/her to vote against House Bill 12.  It will undermine enforcement of public safety laws [and cite any of the other reasons that are important to you]."
   
• Next, Call the office of the Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst
  • (512) 463-0001
  • Ask the Lt. Governor to oppose HB 12.
     
• If you call after hours, leave this same message on the Senator's or Lt. Governor's voice mail.
    

More about HB 12

Leading Police Chiefs and Sheriffs across Texas Oppose HB 12  see more 

Texas Religious Leaders Oppose HB 12   see more 

Texas Business Groups Oppose HB 12  see more 

Texas Civil Rights & Community Groups Oppose HB 12 see more 

See a fact sheet about HB 12

House Bill 12 has been promoted as a bill to prohibit so-called "sanctuary cities," but even the bill's author has been unable to define what a "sanctuary city" is or to identify any "sanctuary city" in Texas or how HB 12 would make Texas safer.  In reality HB 12 is designed to prohibit police departments, cities, school districts, and other agencies from setting smart community policing policies that gain the trust and cooperation of immigrant communities by focusing their officers'  time and resources on public safety enforcement and by avoiding diversion of officer's time and resources off into enforcement of federal immigration laws.  HB 12 would interfere with these local community policing policies and would encourage uncoordinated and unregulated attempts at federal immigration enforcement by individual, untrained local police officers who choose to act on their own as self-appointed federal immigration officers.