The taxpayers of Harris County will now be footing the bill for legal services of illegal immigrants.
Forget the flood problems, social justice is what the Harris County Commissioners Court has become all about.
The Houston Chronicle reports:
Commissioners Court voted along party lines, with the two Republican members opposed, to become the first county in Texas to enact such a program...
“We’re very excited to propose a measure that’s going to inject a measure of fairness into our justice system,” Hidalgo said before the vote. “I’ve seen the impact of a federal immigration system that is so broken and convoluted that folks are desperate to have an answer to their case.”
The Republicans —Jack Cagle and Steve Radack —said the county should not wade into a federal immigration issue.
Hidalgo’s resolution directs the Community Services Department to “design, administer funds for, and oversee an immigrant legal services program for county residents, subject to final approval by Commissioners Court.”
Hidalgo’s office estimated the program would cost $500,000 the first year and would require an additional employee to administer it.”
Other stories quote Hidalgo as saying her program will cost at least $1.5 million and the money will go to non-profits and other “philanthropic organizations” the county will partner with, in others a big slush fund to reward politically connected organization. Think ACORN.