The mayor of Houston said Monday residents of his city, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, should not be afraid to ask for help amid heavy flooding — and if illegal aliens are arrested after they are discovered in the storm, he will serve as their lawyer.
"I and others will be the first ones to stand up with you," said Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, according to The Hill. "If you need help and someone comes and they require help, and then for some reason, somebody tries to deport them, I will represent them myself, OK?"
Turner said the emergency services in his city do not discriminate against anyone.
"If you are in a stressful situation, I don't care who you are, I don't care what your religion is, I don't care what your language is, you come and take advantage of every service that we have," Turner said.
"If you're in a stressful situation and you need help, you call us for help. We want you to call. There is absolutely no reason why anyone should not call, OK?"
Houston and its surrounding area is experiencing massive flooding days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas Friday night. The storm is lingering and more than 30 inches of rain have fallen, which has resulted in thousands of people being stranded in the rising floodwaters.