How history informs the present

Birmingham City University

How history informs the present by Sabah Athar

How history informs the present: the impact of the Mexican empresario system on the development of localism in Texas through the lens of contemporary sanctuary cities You are warmly invited to join us for this session within the 2022/2023 series of the BCU School of Law Research Seminar Series. Sabah Athar will deliver a research presentation to highlight the importance of Texan constitutional history with reference to the empresario system and how it has impacted the position of municipalities within the Texas constitutional order with a particular focus on the contemporary sanctuary city movement. About the session: The settlement of Mexican Texas during the 1820s and 1830s by way of the empresario system opened the region up to an influx of Anglo-American settlers. Whilst initially welcoming immigration from the North, the Mexican government’s eventual proscription of migration of these settlers and their slaves and growing calls for establishing a local government for increased representation of the Texian people led to Texas declaring itself an independent republic. In the years since the Texas Declaration of Independence, the determination of Anglo-American settlers to distinguish the identity of Texas as unique and distinct from Mexico manifested itself not only in the character of the state but also in its constitutional development, to the extent that it comes to provide further context to its moniker as the “Lone Star State.” Texas has had seven constitutions since its colonization by Anglo Americans, all of which tell the story of a rich yet relatively short history particularly how the state has become entrenched in the fabric of the South as well as the character of the South being entrenched in the fabric of Texan constitutionalism. The effect of this is seen in the context of the contemporary response by the state of Texas to acts of localism by municipalities. This seminar will highlight the importance of Texan constitutional history with reference to the empresario system and how it has impacted the position of municipalities within the Texas constitutional order with particular focus on the contemporary sanctuary city movement. Sabah Athar Sabah is a Lecturer in Law here at Birmingham City University as well as a final year Ph.D. Researcher. Her Ph.D. research is an archival study of localism in Texas with particular focus on the sanctuary city phenomenon. She has interdisciplinary research interests but with special focus on the legal and political systems of the United States.

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How history informs the present

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