3 November 23 - 29, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | ‘Codified Hate’ Texas lawmakers ap- prove ‘devastating’ anti-immigration bills. BY JACOB VAUGHN T wo bills passed in the Texas House of Representatives last week aim to al- locate more than $1.5 billion for addi- tional border security measures and to make it a state crime to enter the country illegally from Mexico. Senate Bill 3, which was filed by state Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican, calls for $1.54 billion to be spent on more border barriers and to fund more state troopers to patrol a housing development near Houston called Colony Ridge. Senate Bill 4, which was filed by state Sen. Charles Perry, a Lubbock Republican, would make it a state misdemeanor to illegally cross the Texas-Mexico border. SB 4 is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, where he’s likely to sign it. SB 3 is go- ing back to the Senate for members to vote on an amended version of the bill. Under SB 4, if an undocumented immi- grant is arrested, they’ll be ordered by a judge to leave the U.S. in lieu of prosecution. If they’re accused of other crimes or they vi- olate the judge’s order, they could get charged with a felony. One of the bill’s sponsors, state Rep. Da- vid Spiller, a Republican from Jacksboro, called SB 4 the strongest border security bill in the nation. “I’m proud to lead the charge on this landmark legislation as it will be sent to Governor [Greg Abbott’s] desk,” Spiller wrote on X. Meanwhile, the Texas ACLU is threaten- ing to sue the state if SB 4 is signed into law. Oni K. Blair, executive director at the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement that politicians in the state have pushed through some of the most radical anti-immigration bills ever passed in the country. “This legislation is completely out of touch with our values and who we aspire to be as Texans,” Blair said. She said SB 4 overrides federal immigra- tion law, fuels racial profiling and harass- ment and gives state officials the unconstitutional ability to deport people without due process or regard for their eligi- bility for various humanitarian protections. “If signed into law, these bills will directly harm people seeking asylum, Black and Brown communities, and the core principles of our democracy,” Blair said. “It’s shameful that the governor and his allies are wasting taxpayer money on this unlawful cruelty in- stead of addressing our real needs: keeping the lights on, our schools open, and our teachers paid.” She added: “Texans across the state have resoundingly opposed these bills from the beginning and we’re not back- ing down. If Gov. Abbott signs SB 4 (88-4) into law, we will sue.” David Donatti, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Texas, told the Observer it’s im- portant to recognize that lawmakers from both parties have acknowledged SB 4 is un- constitutional. There are a few reasons for that, he said. One of the most important ones is that immigration enforcement is a federal job. “As long as immigration controls have existed, since the 19th century, the Su- preme Court has said over and over again that immigration regulation and enforce- ment is exclusively a federal prerogative,” Donatti said. “This law directly contradicts that mandate.” He later noted: “It’s going to be a fight not just in court but outside of it to keep people safe in what is increasingly a dangerous en- vironment for all of us, especially people of color in the state of Texas.” Donatti said there have been similar bills filed in the past. About a decade ago Senate Bill 1070 in Arizona was passed, making it il- legal to not carry immigration papers. It also required police to investigate the immigra- tion status of whoever they came in contact with. According to The Texas Tribune, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that local police didn’t have the authority to arrest people on the basis of their immigration sta- tus and that this responsibility lied in the hands of the federal government. “Texas’ bill goes beyond what Arizona passed,” Donatti said. If Gov. Greg Abbott’s X account is any in- dication, the controversial bill will get signed. “I look forward to signing Senate Bill 4, which creates penalties for illegal entry into Texas and authorizes the removal of il- legal immigrants apprehended at the bor- der.” He congratulated Sen. Perry and House Rep. Spiller for what he called “his- toric progress for border security.” State Rep. Venton Jones, a Dallas Demo- crat, told the Observer he was disappointed by SB 4’s passage on the House floor. “This legislation makes Black and Brown Texans less safe, codifies racial profiling, and will cost taxpayers and local governments mil- lions in unfunded mandates,” he said. “I will continue fighting for Texans, ALL Texans, to feel safe in their homes and in their own skin.” Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gil- berto Hinojosa shared a similar view. “This is nothing short of codified hate, all so Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick can tout DPS and Operation Lone Star soundbites for Fox News,” Hinojosa said in a statement. “This will not fix the real security issues along the southern border,” Hinojosa said. “This will not keep Texans safe. This will do nothing but rip families apart and over- crowd our prisons – which is what Texas Republicans do best.” Denisse Molina, humanitarian outreach coordinator for the Beyond Borders Pro- gram at the Texas Civil Rights Project, told the Observer the motivation behind SB 4 is clear. It’s to “create an entirely new, sepa- rate, and unequal state immigration system in the United State,” Molina said. She said it’s a clear attempt to challenge the Supreme Court case regarding Arizona’s SB 1070. Molina explained that if SB 4 is allowed to be implemented, it could set a precedent for other states. “This bill could cause a rip- ple effect for other states to try the same tac- tics Texas did, which will only create harm and confusion,” she said. To her, bills like SB 4 are meant to sow fear and anxiety among immigrant and mixed-status communities. But she thinks the law won’t impact only immigrant com- munities. She said the organization antici- pates the impacts of the bill will be devastating, with massive human and civil rights violations, increased racial profiling and fear throughout communities of color. “The impact is on everyone that does not look white,” Molina said. “There will be disruptions in people’s lives as they learn how to navigate the law and the criminal system the law aims to trap them in,” Molina said. “This law is an attack on everyone including U.S. citizens and that is why this legislation is so dangerous.” ▼ DOWNTOWN DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK THE YMCA IS STAYING DOWNTOWN, BUT SOME MEMBERS AREN’T CELEBRATING. BY KELLY DEARMORE J ust when it looked as though the days of the T. Boone Pickens YMCA in Dal- las were coming to a close, the story has, yet again, taken another turn. Instead of being sold and closing this week after more than 100 years downtown, the facility will remain open. On Nov. 13, Curt Hazelbaker, president and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Dal- las, wrote in an email to the downtown branch’s board of managers that the sale of the building the facility is housed in had fallen through. Hazelbaker wrote “that the buyer did not move forward as anticipated.” “In light of this, the T. Boone Pickens YMCA will remain open, with normal oper- ations. While this is an unexpected turn, it speaks to the current market,” the email read. “We are not actively marketing the YMCA building. With this in mind, if an op- portunity presents itself where a new buyer is interested and it is a smart, fair deal for the Y, the Board of Directors has a fiduciary responsibility to consider it.” Hazelbaker’s email also included a list of “talking points.” The responses we received to our questions from Hazelbaker closely re- sembled those, as did the contents of the email. He confirmed to the Observer that the building is not being listed again for sale at this point, and that he expects the majority of the location’s employees to remain down- town. “The Y remains committed to serving the downtown/uptown community, while also allowing the organization to be the best steward of member, donor and community dollars,” Hazelbaker added. The main pain point between Hazel- baker and those who opposed the sale de- veloped in February when the metro board of directors decided to move forward with sale of the building without promising to find a new downtown location to move the gym to. This was a different approach from when the building had been up for sale in 2019 and again in 2021. In an interview in June, Hazelbaker said the high cost of maintaining the building was a driving factor in the board’s increased determination to sell. In June, it was esti- mated that around $8 million in repairs were needed to member-facing areas as well as other major items, including improved air conditioning. On top of that, he added, the downtown Y would continue to offer almost all of its community outreach programs whether there was a building downtown or not. Ef- forts such as the annual sponsorship of the Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot, a water safety program, childcare, food distribution and a college scholarship program were all set to continue, Hazelbaker said. Such bullet points, although rea- | UNFAIR PARK | Sara Button Razor wire lines the banks of the Rio Grande as migrants wade through the water near Eagle Pass. >> p4