Texas Gov. Greg Abbott escalated a standoff with Austin’s sheriff over so-called sanctuary cities on Wednesday, vowing to oust the elected Democrat from office.
Abbott, a Republican, already has plans to cut off some state grants by Feb. 1 because Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez says her jails in Texas’ most liberal city will no longer honor all detainer requests from federal immigration authorities.
“If she doesn’t, we will remove her from office,” Abbott said during an interview on “Fox and Friends.”
Abbott said the Texas Legislature is working on anti-sanctuary bills that would remove officeholders and impose criminal and financial penalties. His threat goes beyond one prominent anti-sanctuary bill that proposes blocking taxpayer money as punishment.
A spokeswoman for Hernandez didn’t immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
Democratic state Rep. Rafael Anchia said “unless the governor wants to be king and remove people form office unilaterally,” it’s up to voters to decide.
Abbott doubled down on the same day President Donald Trump was expected to roll out executive actions on immigration that could target “sanctuary cities.” Trump could curb funding for cities that don’t arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, which could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars.
Hernandez has said she will still honor detainer requests for murder, aggravated sexual assault and human trafficking charges. But she has said complying with all requests ties up her deputies and sows distrust between officers and county residents, who may fear deportation.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.