Governor Greg Abbott today released the following statement after the Texas Senate voted to preliminarily approve a bill to ban sanctuary cities (SB 4) in the State of Texas, one of Governor Abbott’s emergency legislative priorities:

“As Governor, I will not tolerate sanctuary city policies that put the citizens of Texas at risk. Elected officials do not get to pick and choose which laws they will obey. Today's action in the Senate helps ensure that Sheriffs and officials across Texas comply with federal immigration laws and honor Immigration and Custom Enforcement detainer requests that keep dangerous criminals off of our streets. I want to thank Senator Perry for his leadership on this issue and look forward to final passage in the Senate tomorrow.”