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Cherokee vows to defend illegals law
Law killed in Cal. because of costly litigation

By AIXA M. PASCUAL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/16/06

Commissioners in Cherokee County vowed this week to defend a controversial ordinance that seeks to prevent landlords from renting to illegal immigrants. They dug in days after a California city withdrew a similar law due to costly litigation.

"We're prepared to carry through for a while," said Commissioner Jim Hubbard.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund plan to sue "in the next few weeks" to challenge the constitutionality of an ordinance the Cherokee County commissioners approved 5-0 on Dec. 5, said Jamie Hernan, a metro Atlanta lawyer who is helping draft a lawsuit.

On Wednesday, the City Council in Escondido, Calif., killed a law that made it illegal for landlords to rent to illegal immigrants. A judge had blocked enactment of the ordinance after a lawsuit challenged it last month.

A city statement said the council acted because "continuing the present policy approach would be unnecessarily costly." The city estimated that it could have had to pay its attorneys more than $1 million to defend the ordinance if the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, the city said, it faced the prospect of having to pay plaintiff attorneys' fees.

Another factor in the city's decision was the lack of an assured federal database to verify the immigration status of individuals for housing purposes, said spokeswoman Joyce Masterson.

Escondido agreed to pay $90,000 to cover fees of the lawyers who had sued the city, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Hernan said that should serve as a cautionary tale.

"When they see that Escondido had to back down and pay $90,000," he said, Cherokee County commissioners "should realize that the opportunity is now to correct what they've done."

Even as Cherokee County vows to fight potential lawsuits, it is keeping close tabs on what's happening with similar ordinances in other cities.

"The Escondido situation should certainly weigh into our strategy," said Commissioner Harry Johnston, referring to strategies county officials have discussed as ways to minimize the county's financial exposure. "We need to monitor the litigation elsewhere and consider what we should do."

The Cherokee ordinance is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

Written complaints about landlords suspected of renting to illegal immigrants would trigger an investigation.

The county would try to verify with the federal government the immigration status of a person seeking to use, occupy, lease or rent a dwelling in the county.

The ordinance requires landlords to maintain information on tenants' immigration status.