Boneheaded Recalcitrance

Houston City Councilman Mark Ellis, ladies and gentlemen:

Mark Ellis' state Senate campaign has sent an e-mail to supporters calling two of his Republican Houston City Council colleagues "recalcitrant" and "boneheaded" for not supporting his effort to change the police department's illegal immigration policy.

The e-mail, which Ellis said he did not authorize, calls on supporters to "bombard" the offices of council members Shelley Sekula-Gibbs and M.J. Khan with phone calls, faxes and e-mails voicing opposition.

Ellis said the two have not yet supported his effort to persuade Mayor Bill White to allow a council vote on a resolution that would rescind a 1992 order stating that police not enforce immigration laws.

The proposed resolution, which White said he would not support, even if Ellis persuaded a majority of council members to sign on, calls on the police to determine the immigration status of all people arrested on Class B and C misdemeanor charges, such as criminal trespass or failure to pay toll-road tolls. It also would require proof of U.S. citizenship for people to receive "taxpayer-provided social services."

Ellis said he had planned next week to publicly pressure Khan and Sekula-Gibbs to support the effort, which he said reflects his belief that the police should help federal authorities crack down on illegal immigrants.

"Immigration reform is probably one of the biggest issues that's facing us locally, statewide and the country," he said. "I don't think it's appropriate for municipalities to be working against the federal government."

Left unsaid is why Mark Ellis thinks it makes sense for local government to do a job that the federal government has yet to express much interest in despite their responsibility for it.

Among the things I'm grateful for ... that Mark Ellis doesn't have a prayer of being an elected official in a few more months.