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In a 10-6 decision, Houston City Council voted Wednesday to join Texas' other three largest cities in a lawsuit against the controversial Senate Bill 4, known as the sanctuary cities law. The vote followed hours of heated public testimony. More than 130 residents lined up to testify, many immigrants themselves.
The Houston area is home to the third-largest population of immigrants in the country illegally, behind New York City and Los Angeles, according to the Pew Research Center.
SB4 allows law enforcement to ask people their immigration status if stopped and threatens officers who refuse federal requests to hold immigrants detained for other alleged crimes with jail time and fines. The law is set to go into effect Sept. 1.
A preliminary hearing for the consolidated lawsuit is set for Monday.
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