Sally Hernandez hits back at Abbott

On Thursday, Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez responded to Gov. Greg Abbott’s threat to remove her from office over her recently announced policy to no longer cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants. In a statement to media, she said the following: “I respect the job of our state leaders, but I will not allow fear and misinformation to be my guiding principles as a leader sworn to protect this community. I am following all state and federal laws, and upholding constitutional rights to due process for all in our criminal justice system. Our community is safer when people can report crimes without fear of deportation. I trust the court system and our judges to assess the risks and set appropriate bonds and conditions for all who are incarcerated. The voters, who elected state leaders and me, expect and deserve a collaborative effort to come up with solutions to this very complex issue. That is precisely what I’m committed to.”