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AUSTIN --Chief William McManus of the San Antonio Police Department is among a throng of people at the Texas Capitol waiting to speak out on a bill targeting so-called sanctuary cities.

McManus opposes Senate Bill 4, a department spokeperson said. The bill is the focus of Thursday’s hearing by the Senate State Affairs Committee.

The chief has long been among top law officers who have expressed concern that they don’t have the ability to take charge of enforcing federal immigration laws. The term sanctuary city is fluidly defined but is generally meant to encompass communities that provide safe harbor to undocumented immigrants.

Gov. Greg Abbott raised the stakes in the sanctuary-city battle this week by declaring the fight against sanctuary cities to be an emergency in the Legislature. 

Abbott also halted criminal justice grants to Travis County after its sheriff, Sally Hernandez, said she only would honor federal immigration detainers asking her to hold suspects if they were booked for certain serious crimes.

Hernandez has said she is in compliance with the law.

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Twitter: @pfikac

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