Texas Gov. Abbott: 'Quasi-Insane' to Need Sanctuary Cities Ban

It's "quasi-insane" to "have to pass a law to force law enforcement officers to comply with the law," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who Sunday signed a ban against sanctuary cities in his state, said on Monday.

"I was proud to sign this law," the governor told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program. "What it means, no county, no city, no governmental body in the state of Texas can adopt any policy that provides sanctuary."

It also means that law enforcement officials will be required to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests, said Abbott.

"It will engender greater cooperation between local law enforcement and federal officials so we insure everybody will simply follow the law," the governor told Fox News.

Sunday night, Abbott signed the bill during a Facebook Live event, over the opposition of immigrant-rights groups, Democrats, and against the wishes of every major police chief in Texas.

Republicans, however, say the measure will make sure jails honor federal requests to keep dangerous offenders locked up.

Abbott said on Monday the ban does not require that ICE be called every time an arrested person cannot provide paperwork.

"If someone is apprehended and taken to jail, what is done is a request to run a computer search to find out whether or not there is an ICE detainer request," said. "If there is, communication needs to be made with ICE. If there is not, nothing else happens other than the usual local law enforcement process."

If a sheriff or mayor does not comply with the law, they could face ramifications, because they will then have promoted sanctuary city policies, said Abbott.

"If they do promote sanctuary city policies what it means is, they could be subject to jail time," said Abbott. "It means they could be subject to being removed from office. It means their city or county could be subject to fines or penalties up to $25,000 per day."

He also called concerns voiced by one state senator that the legislation will lead to harassment and profiling of Latinos, but Abbott called that "wild rhetoric that is divorced from reality."

"The people who are coming into the United States especially across the border in Texas, are coming not just from Mexico," said Abbott. "In fact, most of the people coming across the border in Texas are not from Mexico. They are from people around the entire globe. This has nothing whatsoever to do with those who are Hispanics, point one.

"Point two, most of the Hispanics in the state of Texas are here legally and they have absolutely nothing to worry about. Point three, it is illegal for a law enforcement officer to racially profile anybody. So if somebody does that, the law enforcement officer will be in a lot of trouble themselves."

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