.jpg)
El Cenizo, a tiny Texas border town where the 34-year-old mayor gets paid $100 a month, is quickly emerging as one of the leaders in the growing resistance to the state’s discriminatory “show me your papers” law, which will turn local law enforcement into federal immigration agents and force sanctuary cities to honor all ICE requests to turn over undocumented immigrants. El Cenizo, along with the League of United Latin American Citizens, Maverick County, and the county’s sheriff, filed the first lawsuit against Senate Bill 4 in May. Later that month, the national ACLU and ACLU of Texas joined City of El Cenizo, Texas v. State of Texas:
On one side is Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and the GOP-led state legislature. Emboldened by President Trump’s blunt rhetoric on illegal immigration, they passed a law in May that forces “sanctuary cities” such as El Cenizo to help detain and deport those who are in the country unlawfully. Uncooperative local governments face large fines, police chiefs and sheriffs could be jailed, and elected officials could lose their jobs.
On the other side are progressive activists such as [Mayor Raul] Reyes, part of a fast-growing younger generation that is largely Hispanic and U.S. born but lacks the political power of conservative white voters. With him are advocates who have pressured Dallas, Houston and other cities to resist cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement because they fear it will lead to racial profiling or deportations for minor offenses.
In El Cenizo—“sprung from a shantytown of landscapers, farmworkers and house cleaners who could not afford the rent in nearby Laredo”—it’s personal, and a risk the town’s leader is willing to take as even the mayor of the 1.4 million-strong city of Houston continues to waffle on suing the state over the legislation. “People have been posting that they should make an example out of me and that they should lock me up,” said Mayor Reyes. “It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make for this cause. I know I will be on the right side of history.”
“He’s trying to defend us,” said one 72-year-old Mexican immigrant about the mayor. “He sees the injustices that are happening with the people.”
According to the Washington Post, El Cenizo’s resistance is really nothing new. You could even say that the town’s actions over the years are some of that small-government philosophy that Republicans love at work:
El Cenizo declared itself a sanctuary in 1999 and vowed to fire any city official who reported an immigrant to authorities. The city holds its council meetings in Spanish, the predominant language. And when outside volunteers tried to patrol the border with Mexico, the city created a $500 park usage fee to keep them out of El Cenizo.
Reyes said crime is rare. He said the city has not had a single homicide during his seven terms in office, dating to 2004.
Among one of the town’s 3,300 residents is Dreamer Angel Garza Reyna—“the pride of El Cenizo”— who just won a full ride to Duke University:
Angel, brought to the United States illegally at 11 months old, has Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a temporary reprieve from deportation instituted under President Barack Obama that, for the teenager, expires next year. He rises before dawn to catch a ride to a magnet school in Laredo. His bedroom wall is plastered with academic medals. Crammed into one corner is a donated Hamilton upright piano, on which he taught himself to play Chopin.
He wants to be a doctor, because El Cenizo doesn’t have one.
Advocates in Houston are now calling on their own city leaders to rise up with the same courage of El Cenizo: "Our community and many of its leaders have been very patient and have continued to have trust in Mayor [Sylvester] Turner,” said community leader Cesar Espinosa. “We are less than 100 days from SB4 being implemented. We do not need more promises of a welcoming Houston. We need the mayor and City Council to take action to protect Houston immigrant families.”
Comments are closed on this story.