San Antonio – This week, a San Antonio Federal Judge held a hearing to consider a preliminary injunction on SB4. Now city business and community leaders are loudly expressing their opposition to the discriminatory law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in May.
Long-time San Antonio business and community leaders, Frank Herrera and Max Navarro published an opinion piece today in the San Antonio Express-News outlining why SB4 goes against the Texan values of welcoming immigrants and celebrating the diversity of our state and how the law would harm Texas’ economy.
“SB4: A Bill That Takes the State Backward” is excerpted below and available online here.
As proud members of San Antonio’s business community who work with a diverse workforce and who continue to nurture the development of Hispanic business, academic and political leaders, we are committed to turning Texas right-side up.
Cheap political rhetoric comes at a high cost that Texas may now have to pay as a result of Senate Bill 4. Instead of Texas being regarded as a multicultural state that welcomes businesses, international students and visitors alike, our leaders have taken us backward, to the ugly racist past of our state.
Depending on how dirty our jeans are or how sweaty we look, Hispanics in Texas — and even foreign visitors — will be forced to produce proof of citizenship after being stopped by police on our way to Home Depot for gardening supplies, even if our families have been here for more than a century.
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We also must respect the immigrant community that has sustained our economy for decades. There is no shame in that. We are better as a state because of their contributions to our communities.
SB 4 is now in the courts. Texas taxpayers will have to foot the bill for another expensive round of litigation in which the state will try to prove this law is constitutional and that prejudice was not a motivating factor. Federal courts have already ruled that the Texas Legislature showed discriminatory intent when it passed a voter ID bill and a redistricting map that diluted the voting strength of minorities. SB 4 will suffer the same fate.
Enough. We urge other business leaders in San Antonio and across the state to speak out against this law. Let’s not just rely on the courts to stop it. Tell our state leaders that they need to reverse this, for the sake of our communities, our economy and our heritage.
