A City in Texas Passes Anti-Immigration Law

Voters in a Dallas suburb became the first in the nation prohibiting landlords from renting to illegal immigrants.

This vote on Saturday was approved by a 68-32 margin, but these final results have not been made official.

This was the first public vote for local government legislation that will crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Tim O'Hare, a City Council member who was the ordinance's lead proponent, said he hopes this measure will send a clear signal to the 'do-nothing' Congress in the Nations Capitol that something needs to be done about the out-of-control influx of illegal immigrants.

The legislation approved by voters, with some exceptions, requires landlords to verify renters are legal US citizens, or legal immigrants, before renting, or leasing, to anyone. Landlords who break this ordinance may be subjected to a misdemeanor charge punishable by a fine of up to $500.

Council members in Farmers Branch approved this measure back in November, but this legislation had to be revised in January to include exemptions for minors, seniors and some families with a mix of legal residents and illegal immigrants.

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.

Opponents are all ready planning to fight this ordinance in court, and these opponents are going to seek a restraining order to prevent the city from enforcing this approved measure.

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.

Mr. O'Hare feels the city's economy and quality of life will improve once the illegal immigrants are kept out of the city.

Nationwide, more than 90 local governments have proposed, passed or rejected laws that seek to prohibit landlords from leasing to illegal immigrant. Other measures being taken by local governments include penalizing businesses that employ illegal immigrants, and training police to enforce immigration laws.

Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institute office at New York University School of Law, said most of these measures taken by local governments usually fail the constitutional test.

"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."

Illegal immigration is becoming a serious concern around the country, and it is time for the nation's leaders take a stand before the illegal immigration confrontation turns more violent and deadly.

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