San Antonio's police chief says the department will abandon a policy prohibiting officers in the nation's seventh-largest city from asking about a person's immigration status due to Texas' new law banning so-called sanctuary cities.
Chief William McManus on Monday ripped Republican lawmakers over the law signed Sunday night, which opponents say is the nation's most anti-immigrant law since an Arizona crackdown in 2010.
Texas' law takes effect in September and will allow police officers to ask about a person's immigration status during routine stops. McManus says that could include people even stopped for jaywalking.
He says a written department policy prohibiting questions about immigration status was added several years ago following community meetings.
Abbott says the law will help fulfill a duty to keep "dangerous criminals off our streets."
Critics say it will lead to Hispanics being racially profiled.
