Dallas County officials on Tuesday raised concerns about the cost to taxpayers of a new state immigration enforcement law already approved by the Texas Senate.
The law would make it a Class A misdemeanour punishable by jail time to be in Texas without proper immigration status.
There are an estimated 293,000 people without proper status in Dallas County, according to county officials.
“Over a quarter of a million people who meet the criteria for this crime would be held in our jail for up to a year,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
State lawmakers estimate a much lower number, saying 72,000 people would be charged with the offence statewide each year. But that still suggests a lot of extra inmates in the Dallas County jail.
Senate Bill 11, sponsored by Granbury Republican Senator Brian Birdwell, received a committee hearing in the Texas House on Monday.
“This Senate bill is just unbelievable. We only have 7,100 beds,” said Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price.
Only 140 of those beds were open to new inmates on Tuesday to avoid releasing criminals who belong there.
County officials have been scrambling this year to increase jail capacity. About 200 temporary beds were recently approved by state prison officials.
That is a fraction of the number of beds Dallas County officials fear they will need if another part of state government forces police to take immigration violators to jail, with no additional state money to house them.
“It’s already illegal to be in the state without authorisation in any way, so this additional law is really just punishing taxpayers across the state of Texas,” said Commissioner Elba Garcia. “It means raising taxes because they’re not paying for the law they’re passing. And it’s not just unfair. It’s discriminatory.”
Officials said law enforcement officers in Dallas County generally do not inquire about immigration status to foster trust with the community for cooperation in fighting violent crime.
Commissioner Andrew Sommerman said the new law could overwhelm the criminal justice system and jeopardise the fight against violent crime.
“Could it be that we end up with people who are here trying to get a job filling up our jails and as a result we are not putting murderers and rapists in our jail,” Sommerman said.
County officials said that was the worst case scenario they feared.
Similar laws in other states have been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has said that immigration enforcement is typically the province of the federal government.
Supporters of the Texas proposal said it could be different with the current Supreme Court.
A message seeking comment from Senator Birdwell was not returned on Tuesday.