From the testimony of a Houston police officer's widow to allegations of racism, a daylong legislative committee hearing Monday on a bill banning “sanctuary cities” brought the national immigration debate back to the Texas Capitol.

The Senate's Transportation and Homeland Security Committee on Monday approved a bill that would ban cities from prohibiting police from asking about the immigration status of those they detain. Gov. Rick Perry last week added the proposal to the agenda of the Legislature's special session. A similar bill failed during the regular session.

The issue drew a crowd of advocates and opponents of the bill, with both sides staging rallies in anticipation of the hearing.

In one weekend rally, a leading proponent of the bill blamed the Legislature's inaction on the issue on the number of Hispanics who serve there.

“If you want to know why we can't pass legislation in Texas, it's because we have 37, no, 36 Hispanics in the Legislature. So, that's part of our problem, and we need to change those numbers,” said Rebecca Forest, a co-founder of the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas. “We need to do something about that in fact.”

Her remarks drew condemnation from the state's top three elected officials, all of whom support the sanctuary cities legislation as a needed tool for law enforcement.

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“The governor certainly does not agree with such misguided and unproductive comments. This is not about race or politics — it is about public safety. We must ensure our peace officers have the discretion they need to keep Texans safe,” Perry spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said.

House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, called Forest's statements “divisive and intolerant” and said they “have no place in our (Republican) party or in the Texas House of Representatives, where our Hispanic members bring a diverse and valuable perspective to the legislative process, just as our Hispanic citizens do in our state.”

Added Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, “The sanctuary cities bill is not about the color of any person's skin — it's about enforcing the law.”

Democratic Party officials seized on Forest's remarks as evidence that the legislation is inspired by racism.

“While Ms. Forest's comments are incredibly offensive, it's about time a Republican was finally up-front about their party's hateful attitude toward Hispanics,” said Anthony Gutierrez, spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party.

George Rodriguez, president of the San Antonio Tea Party, said he attended the rally, heard Forest's comments and “corrected” her at the podium.

“That was an unfortunate choice of words,” Rodriguez said Monday. “I completely disagree with that. The problem is not that we have too many Hispanic legislators. The problem is that we have Hispanic liberal legislators. What we need to do is find conservative Hispanics to run for office so we can have conservative Hispanics that can vote on these issues.”

Rodriguez added, “I think there are too many people who are emotional on the issue. I think there are many people who are new to politics who are used to speaking their mind rather than understanding they are going to be held responsible for everything you say.”

Law enforcement leaders and local public officials across the state registered opposition to the measure, which they say would sap the limited resources of local law enforcement personnel and trigger a lack of trust by Hispanics, who would be less likely to report crime.

“Texas is not Arizona. Our culture, history and economy are based on genuine and pragmatic good will towards all residents in our state,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said. “We don't need the negative attention that would come to our state with enactment of laws perceived as anti-Hispanic.”

Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland Jr. estimated that it would cost his department more than $4 million to train 5,000 officers on immigration matters to comply with the legislation.

But Houston police Sgt. Joslyn Johnson, whose husband was killed in 2006 by an illegal immigrant who had been deported in 2005, said the legislation could have prevented her husband's death. Officer Rodney Johnson was shot in the back of the head by a man he arrested after the man, in the backseat of the patrol car, pulled a pistol that was overlooked in a body search. The officer was writing a report in the front seat when he was shot.

State Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, predicted that passage of the legislation would lead to a backlash against Texas Republicans, much like the experience of California Republicans after passage of Proposition 187, which denied social services to illegal immigrants.

Express-News Staff Writer Brian Chasnoff contributed to this report.