Texas Governor Greg Abbott took to Facebook Live in an unannounced ceremony Sunday and signed a ban on sanctuary cities.
As The Guardian reports, the measure allows police, during routine stops, to ask whether someone is in the U.S. legally and threatens jail time for police chiefs and sheriffs who don’t cooperate with federal immigration agents.
The law allows police to ask anyone they detain, whether it be through an arrest or a stop for a traffic violation, about their immigration status and requires police chiefs and sheriffs - under threat of jail and removal from office - to comply with requests from federal law enforcement officials to hold criminal suspects for possible deportation.
Critics accused Abbott of signing the bill in the manner he did because it allowed him to avoid protestors, but a spokesman for the governor said he opted for social media because that’s where most people get their news.
Opponents are vowing to challenge the law, which doesn’t take effect until Sept. 1.