Chad’s Morning Brief: Greg Abbott Takes Aim at Sheriffs Who Don’t Work With ICE and Marco Rubio Takes on Donald Trump

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced in a letter what his office is prepared to do when it comes to the issue of sanctuary cities. The Chad Hasty Show airs 8:30-11am on 790AM KFYO.

No Grants for Sanctuary City Sheriffs

According to the Texas Tribune, Governor Greg Abbott is prepared to pull state grants from Sheriffs who refuse to work with ICE.

Abbott, a Republican, announced the new policy in a letter to Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, who has come under fire for saying she would begin making case-by-case decisions on whether to honor federal detainers for inmates. Those detainers ask county jails to hold undocumented immigrants with criminal records for up to 48 hours after they are set to be released so that federal authorities can come take them into custody.

The governor's criminal justice grants provide counties with funding for a range of resources, including drug courts, juvenile justice programs and body cameras. So far this calendar year, Abbott's office has awarded $4 million in criminal justice grants, $78,000 of it to Dallas County.

“Beginning now, all [criminal justice division] grant awards will require that sheriff’s departments fully honor [U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement] detention requests for criminal immigrants," Abbott wrote in his letter. "Any applicant that cannot certify that their office will honor all ICE detainers for criminal immigrants will be ineligible for CJD funding."

Abbott added that any sheriff's department that agrees to fully comply with ICE detainers in order to get grant funding — but subsequently fails to honor an ICE detainer — "will be subject to claw-back provisions and must refund the full amount of their CJD grant award.”

Last week, Abbott reprimanded Valdez in a public letter for softening her approach to detaining undocumented immigrants booked into her jails, saying it posed a “serious danger to Texans.” The governor, who has said state laws addressing the issue must wait until the Legislature returns in 2017, has faced criticism from some conservatives for not immediately taking action to crack down on jails that free undocumented immigrants rather than hand them over to the feds.

This is a good first move by the Governor, but the issue of sanctuary cities must be one that is addressed by the legislature.

All Sheriffs should enforce the law. If they don't enforce the law then they should lose their job.

Rubio vs. Trump

Senator Marco Rubio has decided to go after Donald Trump, a move that hasn't worked out well for other candidates running for President. According to POLITICO, Rubio is hitting Trump for flip-flopping on immigration.

Sen. Marco Rubio on Wednesday slammed Donald Trump's record on immigration, saying he only became a hardliner on the issue once he started running for president.

Rubio was asked on Fox News about a poll in Florida showing Rubio and former Florida governor Jeb Bush trailing Trump in their home state. Rubio said it had absolutely nothing to do with Trump's stances on immigration, which currently include an aggressive proposal to build a huge wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and to deport more than 11 million undocumented immigrants.

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"Well first of all, Donald was a supporter of amnesty and the DREAM Act, he changed his position on those issues just to run for president," Rubio said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "But beyond it, I don't think that's the issue that's driving it. Florida voters are following the national trends and watching the news cycle. I'm confident that as we get closer to a real election in Florida, those numbers are going to change. And they will."

Rubio's slam comes as Trump has ratcheted up his attacks on the Florida senator, who had a standout performance at last week's debate and has secured some high-profile endorsements, including one from mega donor Paul Singer.

Interesting move by Rubio and one that is dangerous. Rubio's real weakness is his past involvement with the Gang of 8. When Rubio was part of the group that attempted to pass immigration reform, he argued for border security first. When the proposal wasn't heading in that direction, Rubio bailed. Still, Rubio is tainted by the Gang of 8 and many conservatives don't trust him because of it.

Hitting Trump on immigration will highlight Rubio's immigration problem. It's a dangerous move for Rubio and one I'm not sure will work.

Donald Trump has flipped on many issues. I'm not sure his supporters care about that really. It's hard to see where Rubio wins in a fight with Trump on this issue.