AUSTIN, Texas _ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued San Antonio on Friday, alleging that its police chief violated the state's "sanctuary city" law when he ordered 12 allegedly undocumented immigrants to be released after they were discovered in the back of a tractor-trailer almost one year ago.
The lawsuit, filed in state district court in Austin, asks the judge to impose fines of more than $11 million against San Antonio for violating Senate Bill 4, one of the most hotly contested laws to emerge from the 2017 session of the Legislature.
It was the first time Paxton sought to enforce SB 4, which requires police departments to cooperate with federal immigration authorities and allows local police to investigate the immigration status of anyone they meet in routine encounters.
A federal appeals court upheld the law in March.
"Unfortunately, some municipalities, such as San Antonio, put the safety of police officers and the public at risk by defying state law," Paxton said in announcing the lawsuit. "The court should grant our request for injunctions and civil penalties against San Antonio to send a message that all Texas cities must obey the law."
A lawyer for San Antonio disputed Paxton's account of the human smuggling stop on Dec. 23, 2017, and said officials were "fully confident" that city policies, and Police Chief William McManus, did not violate SB 4.
"The attorney general's characterizations of what happened that day are clearly aimed at furthering a political agenda. The city has a long history of cooperating with federal authorities and we will continue to do so," city attorney Andy Segovia said.
San Antonio's process for handling human smuggling and trafficking investigations was created in coordination with federal authorities who "have not taken issue with our handling of immigration," Segovia said.
SB 4 lets the attorney general seek court-ordered penalties of $1,500, plus an additional $25,500 per day for continuing violations of the state law.
The lawsuit seeks $1,500 fines against McManus and the police department for the events of Dec. 23, 2017.
Paxton's lawsuit also argued that San Antonio should be fined at least $25,500 for every day since a police department policy was adopted on Sept. 1, 2017, that "prohibits its officers from referring persons to (immigration authorities) unless the person has a federal deportation warrant."
That policy improperly limits the ability of officers to comply with federal immigration laws in violation of SB 4, the lawsuit argues.
