Protestors pressure Sheriff Sally Hernandez to fight harder against SB4

There's a group called "Mijente" that's touring the country.

Mijente's rallying cry is not something we're allowed to say or show on TV.  Basically Spanish slang for "'expletive' immigration enforcement."  

So we will leave that out of the story because some think it is inappropriate.

"Ripping families apart is beyond inappropriate.  People having their lives destroyed because of a traffic violation...there are no words for that," said Rebecca Sanchez with Austin group "Grassroots Leadership."

They joined Mijente at Friday's march and rally from the Travis County Jail to the Federal Courthouse.

Much of the rally was directed at Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez.  

They feel she's not doing enough to combat Senate Bill 4 and honoring ICE detainer requests. "We know that this is a very rogue agency so for her to accept them at their word feels a little bit like she isn't pushing as hard as she could be," Sanchez said.

The group walked into the jail and at least tried to deliver a letter to the sheriff.

But what could Sheriff Hernandez be doing differently?

"We know that she has to honor every single ICE detainer request but some of those ICE detainer requests that come in, ICE doesn't have probable cause to issue them so there could be a process that she does inside of both of her jails to where she could make sure that those ICE detainer requests are valid before automatically issuing them on people," Sanchez said.

Hernandez has said herself in the past that ICE detainer requests don't have probable cause.  In response to Sanchez's comments Sheriff Hernandez told FOX 7 Austin by phone that SB4 ties her hands.  I

t doesn't allow her to vet the requests. "I have kept my campaign promises.  Especially those in reference to immigration.  I never promised to break the law. During the SB4 battle I was accused of breaking the law.  I did not then and I will not now," Hernandez said. 

Sheriff AJ Louderback with the Texas Sheriff's Association agrees Hernandez can't do any more than she's doing. "Little disturbing that they would suggest that in an open forum.  No sheriff has any authority to vet any federal government request," Louderback said. 

Another aspect of Friday's rally: abolishing ICE altogether. "ICE hasn't existed for longer than a decade, 15 years something like that so we could easily be without this kind of agency," Sanchez said. 

"You know it's hard for a professional peace officer to try and understand and even comment on someone who would not want to maintain a sovereign border of their own country," Louderback said.

Louderback applauded Sheriff Hernandez for standing her ground and following the law.