Texas’ largest city has voted 13-4 to amend an ordinance that limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, as it faces a major funding threat from Gov. Greg Abbott.
Civil rights groups have called the proposed changes a “backdoor attempt” at repealing the ordinance, which the City Council approved 12-5 earlier this month. But under questions from council members Wednesday, the city’s attorney Arturo Michel said the amendment makes no major changes to the original measure. The mayor’s staff and the governor’s public safety office had negotiated the new language, Michel said, as some council members called the revision the “Abbott amendment.”
Andrew Mahaleris, the governor’s spokesperson, called the amendment approval “a step in the right direction.”
