Councilmember and temporarily-former-Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado was able to speak to reporters yesterday, instead of using her spokesperson, on the topic of the city’s sanctuary policy:
Nearly a month after a Houston group announced a petition drive to require a citywide vote on whether city police should be able to question people about their immigration status, leaders in the Hispanic community gathered Monday evening to discuss how to thwart those efforts.
About 200 elected officials, organization representatives and residents strategized at downtown’s Communications Workers of America Union Hall under Councilwoman Carol Alvarado’s leadership.
“I do find it very ironic that a group called Protect Our Citizens basically is trying to tie the hands of our police officers and make it less safe for all of us,” said Alvarado, who asked the dozens of organizations represented there to pass resolutions opposing the change in policy.
Wouldn’t the order of the police chief in 1992 (Sam Nuchia) that forbids officers from inquiring about immigration status technically be tying the hands of police officers? Wouldn’t lifting the order of the police chief in 1992 be the equivalent of untying their hands, technically? Maybe temporarily-former-Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado should let her spokesperson handle her speaking duties full-time.
Substantively, if the order of the police chief in 1992 is good policy, then why shouldn’t Mayor White bring it before Council to reaffirm it? Aren’t those the sorts of decisions that elected leaders should be making?
