Court Halts Bid to Ban Renting to Illegals
A federal appeals court says Texas cities cannot pass ordinances that prohibit landlords from renting to illegal immigrants.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has ruled that the upscale Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch broke the law when it passed an ordinance that required apartment landlords to verify that every person living in an apartment was a United States Citizen or an eligible immigrant.
The court ruled that the sole purpose and effect of the ordinance is to target the presence of undocumented immigrants within the City of Farmers Branch and to cause their removal, therefore it 'contravenes the federal government's exclusive authority over the regulation of immigration and the conditions of residence in this country, and it constitutes an obstacle to federal authority over immigration and the conduct of foreign affairs."
The court went on to say that illegal immigrants 'contribute to our welfare, but live in constant dread of being apprehended...and being evicted, perhaps having their families disrupted. As unsatisfactory as it is, it's the immigration scheme we have today."
The ACLU, which filed a lawsuit to block the Farmer's Branch lawsuit, says this should be a warning to other Texas cities and to state government, which might want to pass laws cracking down on illegal immigration.
ACLU attorney Lisa Greybill says "Farmers Branch has invested over five years and literally millions of its residents' taxpayer dollars in costly litigation trying to regulate immigration.
Greybill adds that immigration regulation is a national problem that needs a national solution, and it's time for Farmers Branch to give up its mean-spirited efforts to do the federal government's job.
What do you think? Why is it wrong to make life difficult for people who come to this country illegally?
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