Texas Representative Tells Lawmakers Latinos are ‘Being Attacked’ After Passing ‘Show Me Your Papers’ Bill
In recent years, the Latino community has received much scrutiny from conservative lawmakers across the United States. The oftentimes unfair practices have pushed many to their breaking point, something that recently happened to Democratic Texas Representative, Armando Walle.
Texas legislature was debating a new state bill that would allow “local and state peace officers” to stop and send people to Mexico who they might perceive are here illegally. During the discussion, Republican lawmakers cut the debate short, allowing the bill to be passed.
Walle then pleaded about why bills like this hurt his community to his colleagues.
Representative Walle stated that this new bill is attacking his community, making it difficult for them to gather
After Republicans motioned to cut the floor debate on the bill short, Walle aired out his grievances with his colleagues.
According to NBC News, Walle begins his impassioned speech, “[We’re] being attacked on a daily God****ed basis. I’ve been sitting there my whole God****ed time listening to y’all mother****ers. It pisses me off. None of y’all mother****ers know this s*** bro.”
Palestine Representative Cody Harris, who Walle noted was his friend, moved to shorten the debate time.
“You’re my friend, man, I love you, but this f***ing hurts. The s*** that happens on this God****ed floor hurts. I can’t go hang out with my…,” Walle said.
He alludes to how difficult it will be to gather with his loved ones to celebrate major family milestones.
Walle continues, “I can’t drive my brother, my cousin, OK. I can’t take them anywhere, bro? I can’t go to a boda; I can’t go to a baptism because my community is being attacked. Y’all don’t understand the s*** that y’all do hurts our community.”
“It hurts us personally, bro, it hurts us…Hurts us to our f***ing core, and y’all don’t understand that. Y’all don’t live in our f***ing skin,” he asserts.
The new Texas law opens the Latino community to random “show me your papers” stops by just about anyone
According to the ACLU, the “Show Me Your Papers” law signed by Governor Greg Abbott will allow almost anyone to ask suspected undocumented people for proof of residency.
Jennefer Canales-Pelaez, Texas policy attorney and strategist for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, tells NBC News that the law is “vague” and opens up Latinos to an “open season” of discrimination from the people around them.
The law grants “peace officers” the right to stop, detain, and question people about their status. The ACLU explains that it will allow citizens to start investigations and makes it impossible for “police chiefs and sheriffs to prevent individual officers from asking anyone the officer lawfully detains.” This could include routine traffic stops or someone walking by going about their day.
College campuses and universities aren’t exempt from this law either. There are provisions added that would allow college police to act as an extension of ICE as well.
Additionally, Canales-Pelaez tells NBC News that the law is also unclear about how the logistics of removing people will work. It does not specify the questions that can be asked or where it would take place. It also does not clarify what would happen if Mexico chooses to deny non-Mexicans entry.
Furthermore, the Texas House of Representatives also passed another bill, adding a mandatory 10-year minimum penalty for human smuggling. Building onto the other laws is a third that will provide $1.5 billion to buy land to construct a border wall.
