Mexican Ambassador fears racial profiling in Texas sanctuary cities law

Mexico ambassador to U.S. Geronimo Gutierrez, middle, Consul General Reyna Torres Mendivil, left, and artist and political consultant Lionel Sosa discuss trade relations at Instituto Cultural de Mexico on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017. less Mexico ambassador to U.S. Geronimo Gutierrez, middle, Consul General Reyna Torres Mendivil, left, and artist and political consultant Lionel Sosa discuss trade relations at Instituto Cultural de Mexico on ... more Photo: Billy Calzada, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Photo: Billy Calzada, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Mexican Ambassador fears racial profiling in Texas sanctuary cities law 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Mexico’s envoy to the U.S. said he fears that the state’s so-called sanctuary cities bill could lead to racial profiling and incite violence against both legal and illegal immigrants in Texas.

“We do have concerns that legislation such as SB 4 can result in racial profiling and can result in a general environment of aggression against the immigrant community, even those who are here absolutely legally,” Gerónimo Gutiérrez, Mexico’s ambassador to the U.S., said after a meeting at the Mexican Consulate General in San Antonio Wednesday.

Gutiérrez was there as part of a working group created to educate Mexican immigrants in Texas about the new law and their rights. “We have already expressed that concern to the state authorities,” he said.

The new sanctuary cities law, which takes effect Sept. 1, allows local police officers to question detainees about their immigration status and penalizes law enforcement and public officials who don’t comply with federal immigration law.

Gov. Greg Abbott and other proponents say the new law will improve public safety and prevent a patchwork of policies dictating whether or not officers can check immigration status. They say a precedent for the law was set by a similar measure in Arizona that largely survived a Supreme Court challenge.

Opponents argue it equates to “racial profiling” and will hurt the Texas economy as groups move events elsewhere and companies yield to pressure to pull their business from the state. Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance released a study Tuesday that placed the cost at $13.8 billion and 248,000 lost jobs. Police chiefs in the state’s largest cities argue the law strips power from local officials to run their departments as they see fit.

“It’s only one of the multiple messages being sent that says we’re going to separate some people from other people, which is the opposite of the way we are as Mexicans, as Latinos. We’re very inclusive,” said Lionel Sosa, an author and longtime Hispanic media strategist. Sosa joined Gutiérrez and Reyna Torres Mendívil at a separate panel discussion sponsored by the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “Any legislation that tries to divide people in my opinion is not good legislation.”

Torres, Mexico’s Counsel General in San Antonio, said the law would only further discourage Mexican nationals from traveling and spending money here and in other Texas cities. Although reports so far are anecdotal, border officials complain tourism and cross-border shopping excursions by Mexicans are down some 30 percent since President Donald Trump’s election.

“It serves no one if there is a negative image in Mexico concerning Texas,” she said.

Gutiérrez also addressed last month’s tragic smuggling attempt that led to 10 people dying after being transported to San Antonio from the border in an overheated trailer.

“San Antonio was recently the place where a very terrible incident took place, and irrespective of the details, this is a human tragedy,” he said. “And neither, I think, the government of the United States nor the government of Mexico can or should feel satisfied that the way we approach an issue of shared responsibility, which is managing the migration phenomenon between the nations — we cannot be satisfied, I don’t think, with what is going on.”

When asked about the Mexican government’s position on the U.S. government’s decision to detain adult survivors of the trailer incident, Gutíerrez said, “They should be treated as victims. They are victims and accordingly they should be given every possible relief that is permitted by law here.”

Although the first months of the Trump administration have been a “roller coaster,” Gutiérrez gave hope that the North American Free Trade Agreement will survive in some form.

“I think that we’ve reached a point in which both sides think and believe the other side is trying to reach a deal,” Gutiérrez, who served as executive director of the San Antonio-based North American Development Bank before being tapped as ambassador in January. “But a deal needs to be a deal in order to work for everybody.”

He sounded notably more optimistic than in February, when he said the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico was at a “critical point.”

LBrezosky@express-news.net