Bill White, Houston Police, and Sanctuary Cities
Bill White is described as livid over Perry's ad on Sgt. Johnson. From Kelley Shannon's AP report:
Democrat Bill White accused Republican Gov. Rick Perry on Monday of "shamelessly" exploiting the widow of a Houston police officer who was killed by an illegal immigrant by using her in an ad that blames the former mayor's immigration policies for the death.
Corrie MacLaggan wrote down Officer Johnson's reply:
In Perry's ad, Sgt. Joslyn Johnson, Rodney Johnson's widow and herself a member of the Houston police force, comes down firmly on Perry's side.She said in an interview Monday that she doesn't share Perry's political party affiliation but that this issue "goes above my beliefs as a Democrat."
In the ad, she says Quintero had been arrested and convicted several times before and had been deported.
She says White supported "sanctuary city policies that made it difficult for officers to safely do their jobs."
"I trust Governor Perry to secure our safety," she says in the ad. "Bill White had his opportunity as mayor of Houston, and he failed."
This is the downside to White's claim that it is a "total fabrication" that Houston is a sanctuary city. General Order 500-5 of the Houston Police Department prohibits officers from inquiring about citizenship status. The Houston Police Officer wanted that order rescinded. Bill White, who is in favor of the policy, refused to even let there be a public debate.
Whether Bill White wants to deny that Houston is a sanctuary city is irrelevant to the fact that the Houston Police Officers are livid about that and have been for some time. [By the way, what does Bill White want to call Houston? A semi-sanctuary city? Mildly sanctuary? It's pretty clear that Houston has different law on the subject than other cities, including Section 287(g) as well as General Order 500-5.] To those of us who lived in Houston while White was mayor, the ad isn't shocking. It's not so much pro-Perry as it is anti-White.
Strangely, the Houston Police were not persuaded by Austin journalists' Politipinions on whether Houston is a sanctuary city.
Posted by Evan @ 10/26/10 06:47 PM
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Frankly, I am fine with calling Bill White as pro-sanctuary city. Whether we had an "official" policy or simply did it on sly, the result was pretty much the same. Bill White was trying to court the hispanic vote. Fine. But, he needs to face the consequences as well. So, as far as I am concerned, this criticism of White is perfectly valid
Posted by David @ 10/27/10 01:24 PM
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