Texas town upholds immigration law
Farmers Branch first to vote on measure prohibiting renting to illegals
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:53 p.m. PT May 12, 2007
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas - Voters in this Dallas suburb became the first in the nation Saturday to prohibit landlords from renting to most illegal immigrants.
The ban was approved by a vote of 68 percent to 32 percent in final, unofficial returns.
The balloting marked the first public vote on a local government measure to crack down on illegal immigration.
“It says especially to Congress that we’re tired of the out-of-control illegal immigration problem. That if Congress doesn’t do something about it, cities will,†said Tim O’Hare, a City Council member who was the ordinance’s lead proponent.
Council members approved the ordinance in November, then revised it in January to include exemptions for minors, seniors and some families with a mix of legal residents and illegal immigrants.
Opponents forced referendum
Farmers Branch has become the site of protests and angry confrontations, and opponents of the regulation gathered enough signatures to force the city to put the measure on the municipal election ballot.
With Saturday’s approval of the ban, opponents plan to fight it in court, and will seek a restraining order to stop the city from enforcing it.
The city was already facing four lawsuits brought by civil rights groups, residents, property owners and businesses who contend the ordinance discriminates and that it places landlords in the precarious position of acting as federal immigration officers. Their attorneys say the ordinance attempts to regulate immigration, a duty that is exclusively the federal government’s. One lawsuit also alleges the council violated the state open meetings act when deciding on the ordinance.
O’Hare contends the city’s economy and quality of life will improve if illegal immigrants are kept out.
Frustration fuels local efforts
Local proposals aimed at regulating illegal immigration often fail to pass constitutional muster, said Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institute office at New York University School of Law.
“There is significant frustration, so that’s what’s driving it,†Chishti said. “But the simple fact is they cannot do too much other than impress upon the Congress the need for immigration reform.â€
The Farmers Branch measure exempts minors and people 62 and over from having to prove their immigration status or citizenship. Families that include citizens and illegal-immigrant members can lease housing if they meet three conditions: they’re already tenants, heads of households or spouses are legally in the U.S., and the family includes only a spouse, their minor children or parents.
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