Thread: Farmers Branch must jump through another hoop

Jan. 23, 2008, 5:38PM
Immigration agency says Farmers Branch needs OK to access records
By ANABELLE GARAY Associated Press Writer
© 2008 The Associated Press

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas — This Dallas suburb could face a major hurdle in its latest effort to keep illegal immigrants from renting in the city: no access to a database that would help determine whether applicants are in the country legally.

Farmers Branch wants to use U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the Homeland Security Department, to check the immigration status of thousands of renters for a new ordinance passed Tuesday night that requires prospective tenants of homes or apartments to get licenses.

Officials with Citizenship and Immigration Services said Wednesday the city first must seek an agreement with the agency for access to the database.

"And whether the use is lawful and appropriate would be determined at that time," said Maria Elena Garcia-Upson, a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Farmers Branch officials have yet to contact the agency to get approval.

The agency is in charge of handling immigration and naturalization cases. It allows agencies that issue public benefits to access its records so they can determine if an immigrant can receive aid. Employers participating in a program to electronically verify if a person is eligible to work in the U.S. also have access.

Under Farmers Branch's latest ordinance, the city would forward information collected for the rental license to the federal government. Anyone deemed an illegal immigrant would have their rental license revoked, banning them from leasing in the city.

Farmers Branch officials first barred apartment rentals to illegal immigrants in a November 2006 ordinance. The rule was revised in January 2007 to include exemptions for minors, seniors and some mixed-immigration status families. Residents endorsed it 2 to 1 in May.

A federal judge blocked Farmers Branch from enforcing the original ordinance after finding that city officials tried to regulate immigration differently from the federal government. The judge ruled the ordinance essentially deputized private individuals to serve as federal immigration agents.

U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay found Farmers Branch officials attempted to create their own classification system for determining which noncitizens could rent an apartment. The judge also wrote that the ordinance essentially deputized landlords to serve as federal immigration agents.

In response, Farmers Branch officials hired a law firm to rework the ordinance. Attorneys looked to a federal statute they say requires Citizenship and Immigration Services to respond to a state or local government's inquiry about a person's immigration status, said Michael Jung, an attorney with Strasburger & Price LLP.

"If CIS' SAVE database isn't set up to do that, they have to find a way to answer that," Jung said.

Citizenship and Immigration Services has been trying to dig out of a deluge of immigration and citizenship applications from the summer. The application backlog is so huge, the agency fell months behind in returning receipts for checks written to cover application fees — an early step in the process.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5480094.html

Here we go again!!