PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
Tell Texas to Stop Waging War On Latinos
  1. Signatures
    231 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. The Governor of TX (+ 2 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • The Governor of TX
      • The TX State Senate
      • The TX State House
  2. Created By
    Prerna Lal
    Washington, DC
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

Texas State Rep. Debbie Riddle (R-Tomball) could not wait till the ink was dry. The Republican leader of the Texas legislature filed not one, but six different anti-immigrant bills in the first hour of the filing period for the 2011 session. The message is clear and abundant: Texas is about to embark on a war against Latinos.

House Bill 16 would require voters to present photo identification or two forms of non-photo identification before they are allowed to cast ballots. It stops just short of Proposition 200 in Arizona requiring proof of citizenship in order for people to vote, which was recently struck down as unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit. HB 17 treats the lack of immigration status in the United States as a criminal offense and lays out punishments for the new offense. HB 18 punishes sanctuary city policies. HB 19 penalizes driving on a highway without a Texas drivers license.

Riddle does not stop there. HB 21 aims to track the local and state agency expenditures on undocumented immigrants. A non-partisan study confirmed that undocumented immigrants are a net-benefit to the Texas economy. It is no surprise that the legislation does not account for the benefits and income accrued for the state by undocumented populations. And finally, HB 22 requires school districts to turn into immigration agents and inquire about the immigration status of all K-12 students.

Right-wing perpetuated fear and hatred is taking our country back in time. But maybe Texas, a state that is 37 percent Hispanic and votes mostly for the GOP, needs to wake up to the anti-immigrant tsunami taking over the country. Texans must stand up strongly against these anti-immigrant proposals and give the legislature a piece of their mind.

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Arizona cannot be the standard

Greetings,

I'm deeply appalled by the introduction of several anti-immigrant bills by State Rep Debbie Riddle for the 2011 session.

The Arizona-lite proposals embodied in HB 16 - HB 22 would place an unreasonable burden on local law enforcement and state agencies, diverting resources needed to fight real crime to be used on detaining and prosecuting primarily non-violent immigrant workers. If Texas implements these proposals, undocumented immigrants are unlikely to report crimes against them for fear of being themselves detained, causing the relationship between law enforcement and immigrant communities to deteriorate.

A century of study shows that crime rates for immigrants are much lower than for U.S. citizens. It is rather dangerous to conflate the violence from drug cartels to the plight of undocumented immigrants.

The anti-immigrant laws are also likely to draw the wrath of lawsuits, and make the state an unpopular tourist destination.

We do not need these proposals. We need our state officials to work with the federal government to enact reasonable and sensible policies like the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform.

[Your name]

Press Inquiries