SXSW Rejects Senators’ Call to Leave Texas Over Anti-Immigrant Law

In May, Texas passed Senate Bill 4, banning “sanctuary cities.” The bill requires local officials to enforce federal immigration laws, and allows those officials to question the immigration status of anyone they arrest. It is scheduled to take effect on September 1. In protest of SB4, two U.S. Senators—Robert Menendez (D-N.J) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)—have sent a letter to SXSW CEO Roland Swenson, asking him to move SXSW 2018 out of Texas unless the law gets repealed, as Spin points out. “In America we believe that people should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin, but that is not what SB4 does,” they write. “As we saw in previous failed attempts by states that tried to adopt ‘show me your papers’ legislation, these laws essentially legalize discrimination based on the color of your skin or the way you speak.”

Swenson has rejected the senators’ request while still opposing SB4. “We stand by the City of Austin in their challenge against SB4 and will continue to speak out against it, and all discriminatory legislation,” he wrote in a statement.

Swenson continued:

We agree with the Senators that the law stands diametrically opposed to the spirit of SXSW and respect their call to action. We understand why, in today’s political climate, people are asking us to leave Texas.

For us this is not a solution. Austin is our home and an integral part of who we are. We will stay here and continue to make our event inclusive while fighting for the rights of all.

An immigration-related controversy surrounded SXSW 2017. Prior to the festival, a clause in artist contracts concerning the possible deportation of international artists came to light. In response, a group of artists asked SXSW to drop the clause. Officials promised that they would “change the language in [their] artist invitation letter and performance agreement for 2018 and beyond.” They also added, “There are no ‘deportation clauses’ in our current performance agreements. There will be no ‘deportation clauses’ in our future participant agreements.”

Multiple artists scheduled to play this year’s SXSW were denied entry into the United States. The 2017 festival took place just as Donald Trump signed an executive order for a travel ban, which was ultimately blocked by federal judges. It remains unclear whether the bands’ denials were related to the ban.

Read “SXSW CEO Roland Swenson Talks the Festival’s Deportation Clause Controversy” on the Pitch.

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