GOP again eyes sanctuary cities ban due to political tide

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has pushed the issue to the front of his unofficial agenda for 2017, pledging in interviews and on social media to sign into law a "ban" on cities and local governments that are seen as protecting people in the U.S. illegally, with sanctions such as cutting state funding.

Some cities across the country, like Chicago, New York and Seattle, have adopted formal sanctuary policies — forbidding police from asking about a person's immigration status or cooperating with federal immigration officials.

Civil rights and immigration advocates see the call to ban sanctuary cities as hostile to Latinos and warn it would lead harassment by police.

Business groups worry about a reduced labor pool, and some law enforcement officials say crime victims won't call police if they fear it could lead to deportation.

The sanctuary cities issue struck a national note in the 2016 presidential campaign when a woman was shot and killed in San Francisco by an alleged gunman who had been deported multiple times and recently released from jail by local authorities.