Two Republicans competing for Texas’ 22nd Congressional District have sparred in recent days over the state’s so-called sanctuary cities ban, one of the sharpest rifts to emerge in the jam-packed primary contest.
In a new TV ad, longtime GOP donor Kathaleen Wall accuses Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls of “fighting a Trump administration effort by ICE to catch criminal illegal aliens.” The ad also cites a Houston Chronicle story from 2017 in which Nehls expresses opposition to an element of Texas’ sweeping ban on sanctuary cities.
“Incredibly, Nehls refuses to ask the immigration status of potential criminals,” the ad narrator says. “Worse still, Nehls opposed a ban on sanctuary cities signed into law by Gov. Abbott, saying it went too far.”
Nehls flatly denied Wall’s claims, accusing her of misrepresenting his remarks by taking them out of context. In a Facebook post Sunday — his first public rebuttal to the ad — Nehls said labeling him pro-sanctuary cities “is like calling President Trump pro-impeachment.”
“Let me set the record straight: I have never and will never support sanctuary cities,” Nehls said. “I support President Trump 100%, I support building the wall, and I support deporting criminal illegals. If you hear otherwise, it’s fake news.”
The ad takes direct aim at Nehls’ record on border security — his central campaign issue — with less than a month to go in the 15-candidate GOP primary to succeed U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, who is retiring at the end of his term. Four Democrats also are running for the seat, which covers most of Fort Bend County and parts of Brazoria and Harris counties.
Nehls, elected sheriff in 2012, frequently condemns Congress for “failing to secure our southern border,” and on his campaign website says he has “lock(ed) up over 2,500 criminal illegals and work(ed) with ICE to process them for deportation.”
The first part of Wall’s ad refers to Nehls’ decision in 2017 not to partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on a program that trains sheriff’s deputies as de facto immigration agents. The 287(g) program, named for the Immigration and Nationality Act section that created it in 1996, allows deputies to check inmates’ immigration status and help initiate deportation proceedings on those in custody for other suspected offenses.
In an August 2017 news conference, Nehls said he viewed the program as redundant and a “waste” of public funds, because his office already participated in an ICE immigrant ID-checking program called Secure Communities. Nehls estimated it would cost Fort Bend County about $500,000 to train and employ deputies for the 287(g) program.
About halfway into Wall’s ad, the narrator alleges that Nehls “opposed a ban on sanctuary cities,” a reference to the 2017 bill that would create civil and criminal penalties for officials who do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The ad cites a May 2017 Chronicle story in which Nehls says he does not think the law should criminally penalize officials.
"I don't support sanctuary cities, I've made that very clear," Nehls said in May 2017. "But some of the language in this bill, I don't agree with. … Adding the criminal penalty to sheriffs and others, it's an overreach by state officials and state government."
Later that year, Nehls said he agreed with nearly everything in the newly-enacted law — except for a controversial amendment authored by state Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, that allows law enforcement officers to question a detained person’s immigration status, a provision that covers routine traffic stops. Officers previously could inquire about immigration status only after an arrest.
In the story, Nehls also is quoted saying the bill “is actually dangerous for law enforcement, in my opinion, because when you make that traffic stop you don't know what this person is thinking.” Nehls said he expected the law to produce “more confrontation on the side of the road.”
Overall, Nehls contended, Wall’s ad creates an inaccurate perception that he’s “soft on immigration.”
“I am the most vocal supporter of a wall with beautiful gates,” Nehls said. “I've been an advocate for President Trump and his border security plan, and getting the bad hombres out of this county and this state. So, she's taking the truth and trying to spin it into a lie, and she ought to be ashamed of herself.”
On Monday, former state Rep. Matt Rinaldi — who has endorsed Wall — said on Twitter that Nehls is “lying” about his record. He linked to a KHOU story in which Nehls is quoted saying SB 4 “creates an us vs. them attitude,” and bashed Nehls for his stance on ICE’s 287(g) program, writing, “Seriously, this guy is in the wrong primary.”
In response to the criticism, Nehls said “no one in this race, including Kathaleen Wall, can claim they’ve done more, or anything close, to addressing illegal immigration.”
Wall, for her part, said she is the “only candidate in this race that supports the president’s agenda 100 percent. I’m never going to apologize for that.”
Like Nehls, Wall has centered her campaign around Trump and border security. She has self-funded her congressional bid with $1.6 million through the end of last year, including an ad buy on cable for the anti-Nehls spot. Nehls launched his own TV ad Tuesday touting his record on immigration and “2nd Amendment rights.”
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