Letter to Kel Seliger from Constituents in District 31

June 1, 2011 The Honorable Kel Seliger P.O. Box 12068 Capitol Station Austin, Texas 78711 Dear Senator Seliger: As the Texas Legislature reconvenes for a Special Session, constituents in our district are very concerned about policy developments that will have a negative impact on our Hispanic and diverse immigrant communities. We believe that this agenda is dangerous, divisive and ignores the important social, economic, cultural and political contributions of Hispanics and immigrants in our great State of Texas. In the regular session of the Legislature, some lawmakers tried to follow the costly political path set by Arizona. Several bills were proposed, including HB12 (the so-called sanctuary cities bill). And, all of them were vetted by committees and legislators. At the end of the session, none of these divisive legislative proposals became the law of the state. We praise lawmakers for understanding the potential damage these proposals would have on our economy, our security and our Texan values. I am proud to say that Texas did better, in fact, much better than Arizona. Now, in the shadow of the Special Session, some lawmakers are renewing these attempts to scapegoat immigrants, which will inevitably result in not only alienating immigrant communities but also a large voting bloc of Hispanic constituents in our district. We are particularly concerned about proposed Senate Bill 9. This Arizona-style legislation cannot work in Texas. Our local police departments and county sheriffs are on record as being strongly opposed to it. The business community in our district is also opposed and believes it is a bad policy that will ultimately harm our state economy. And, most importantly, every sector in our district and in the rest of Texas believes this kind of initiative is a waste of time and resources. As a constituent of your district, I urge you to do everything in your power to convince the Governor and legislators not to follow the failed policies of Arizona. The decisions made in Arizona were driven by politics, not common-sense. I believe Texas can do better than this. I ask that you work with us to educate others about the risks of using the politics of fear and intimidation during the discussion of unconstitutional, anti-Hispanic, show me your papers proposals. Senator, we urge you to work with the communities in your district and defeat this anti-immigrant, anti-Texas agenda in the Special Session. Sincerely,

Name: ____________________________ City, Zip:__________________________