Thread: Farmers Branch residents clash over illegal immigrant plan

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Residents clash over illegal immigrant plan

Farmers Branch: Backers cite quality of life; foes call measures racist


07:54 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 22, 2006

By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News

FARMERS BRANCH – City Council members had little to say Monday night about suggestions from two of their colleagues that they adopt measures that would make it harder for illegal immigrants to live and work in the city.
But their constituents had plenty to say in a work session marked by heckling and interruptions by both sides. Many opponents cried "racism," and many supporters said the measures had nothing to do with race and only aimed to make the city less attractive to people who are here illegally.

Several dozen residents crowded into the council chambers to discuss whether the city should restrict illegal immigrants through such measures as making it illegal for landlords to lease property to them; fining businesses that employ them; making English the city's official language; and halting funding for children of illegal immigrants to participate in Summer Funshine and other youth programs.

Those ideas, by council member Tim O'Hare, were borrowed from ordinances adopted by Hazelton, Pa., and under consideration by cities in California, Florida and elsewhere.

Mayor Pro Tem Ben Robinson had more ideas. He suggested that the council also consider prohibiting the assembly of day laborers; requiring contractors to abide by all federal laws, including immigration laws; and having police who question the residency papers of people they encounter on traffic stops or accidents make copies of those documents and submit them to immigration officials.

The issue was only an item for discussion during the council's work session, with no action scheduled or taken.

If and when the council will take the matter up for discussion again was unclear Monday night.

Council member Charlie Bird said he supported the proposal.

But he said the city can't arrest and have deported every illegal immigrant, even if it does adopt the local ordinances.

"It will take time to do what the council wants to do," he said. "We've got work to do."

Mayor Bob Phelps said the council will take action.

"It's going to happen," he said. "I don't know when, but it will happen."

Will Harrell, director of the ACLU of Texas, said earlier Monday that the organization would sue if the city does pass such ordinances.

Representatives from the League of United Latin American Citizens and other groups last week also threatened lawsuits upon learning that Farmers Branch was considering ordinances restricting illegal immigrants.

"We definitely are going to engage this one," Mr. Harrell said. "It's painfully unconstitutional, hateful and grotesquely poor public policy. ... Hopefully, City Council reason will prevail. If not, we will meet them squarely in the courtroom."

Mr. Phelps said Monday night that he was not afraid of threats of lawsuits but didn't think it prudent to spend hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of taxpayer dollars on lawsuits.

He has said that before the council takes any action, it should wait until after proposed changes in federal immigration law have been adopted.

Those who addressed the council during the workshop were about 2-to-1 in opposition to the proposals. But the overall audience was largely supportive, often yelling comments to speakers in opposition, interrupting them and prompting Mr. Phelps to bang his gavel several times to call for order.

"I want to live, Mr. Mayor, in a city that is resistant to lawbreakers," one resident said. "I want to live in a city that's not a haven for them. I want them to know in advance it will be tough for them to live in our city."

Opponents said the proposed measures would put undue hardships on people who were here working hard to make a living.

"We wouldn't want to do business with a city that is so racist," said Elizabeth Villafranca, whose husband owns Cuquita's Restaurant in Farmers Branch.

The nature of the debate concerned resident Kathleen Matsumura.

"The terrorists can go home and rest. We'll kill ourselves," she said. "We'll just fight each other."

E-mail ssandoval@dallasnews.com

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Farmers Branch Will Eventually Act On Illegal Immigration Measure
Last Edited: Tuesday, 22 Aug 2006, 4:35 AM CDT Created: Tuesday, 22 Aug 2006, 4:35 AM CDT

Mayor Bob Phelps said council members will eventually take action on proposals aimed at making it tougher for illegal immigrants to live and work in the city.

"It's going to happen," he said. "I don't know when, but it will happen."

However, it was unclear after a meeting Monday night if and when the City Council would discuss passing a strict illegal immigration ordinance.

During the meeting, city council members heard from constituents on whether they should approve tough immigration-related measures, but no formal decision was made.

Supporters said the proposal simply tries to make the city less attractive to people who are in the country illegally.

"It will take time to do what the council wants to do," said Councilman Charlie Bird, who supported the proposal. "We've got work to do."

Opponents said the move would cause hardship to people who were here working hard.

"We wouldn't want to do business with a city that is so racist," said Elizabeth Villafranca, whose husband owns Cuquita's Restaurant in Farmers Branch.

City Councilman Tim O'Hare asked the council to consider an ordinance that would prohibit landlords from leasing to illegal immigrants, penalize businesses that employ undocumented workers, make English the city's official language, cease publication of any documents in Spanish and eliminate subsidies for illegal immigrants in the city's youth programs.

Mayor Pro Tem Ben Robinson also suggested banning day laborers from assembling and having police submit to immigration officials copies of documents presented by people they encounter on traffic stops or accidents.

The provisions echo those passed by Hazleton, Pa. last month. The ACLU, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund and other groups filed a lawsuit challenging Hazleton's ordinance, contending it is discriminatory and unworkable.

If Farmers Branch follows Hazleton's lead, the ACLU of Texas will also sue, said Will Harrell, the organization's director. Representatives from the League of United Latin American Citizens and other groups also have said the same.

"We definitely are going to engage this one," Harrell said. "It's painfully unconstitutional, hateful and grotesquely poor public policy. ... Hopefully, City Council reason will prevail. If not, we will meet them squarely in the courtroom."
Copyright 2006 Associated Press.


Fox 4 news also conducted a poll
"First at 4" did a survey, "Do you think cities should make laws against Illeagles". I voted yes and so did 93% of those voting. Don't recall how many. But only about 5% said no and 2% undecided. "

http://www.dallasnews.com

Recall of FB council member sought

FB: Advocate of laws against illegal migrants scoffs at boycott threat


11:22 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 22, 2006

By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News

FARMERS BRANCH – Civil rights and Hispanic groups on Tuesday night called for the recall of a City Council member and a boycott of city businesses after suggestions were made to restrict illegal immigrants who live and work in Farmers Branch.

Representatives from several organizations said during a news conference at the Farmers Branch Justice Center that they would establish a political action committee to remove council member Tim O'Hare by recall, and they said they would hold a rally Saturday at Farmers Branch City Hall.

Tim O'Hare They also vowed, if necessary, to conduct a march similar to the one in April that drew an estimated 500,000 people to downtown Dallas to protest proposed federal immigration legislation.

Mr. O'Hare said opponents have a right to protest peacefully, but he said the boycott on businesses would probably have the opposite effect of what the coalition is hoping to do.

"I encourage every person in the D-FW metroplex that is in support of the proposal to come shop in Farmers Branch to support our stance," he said Tuesday evening.

About two dozen people, representing organizations such as the League of United Latin American Citizens, Casa de Chihuahua and the International Coalition of Mexicans Abroad, said they are opposed to Mr. O'Hare's idea.

He proposed that the city consider implementing laws similar to one passed last month by Hazelton, Pa., and since passed or under consideration by a handful of area cities, as well as in California.

'Most restrictive'
LULAC and Texas American Civil Liberties Union officials said this week that they believe Farmers Branch is the first Texas city to discuss such measures, which include prohibiting landlords from leasing to illegal immigrants, fining businesses that employ them and making English the city's official language.

Mr. O'Hare also has suggested eliminating subsidies for children of illegal immigrants to participate in Summer Funshine and other youth programs.

Council member Ben Robinson on Monday said he wants to prohibit the assembly of day laborers and suggested that police who question the validity of residency papers of immigrants encountered during traffic stops or accidents make copies of those documents and submit them to immigration officials.

The ideas, if adopted, would make them "the most restrictive, most punitive, most anti-Mexican, anti-immigrant, anti-American legislation in the whole entire United States ... which we find repulsive," said Carlos Quintanilla, representing LULAC.

"It's against the spirit of good neighbors and being immigrant friendly, as Dallas is, and it serves no purpose to promote this legislation out of the blue, without taking into consideration the significant contribution immigrants make. ... It is simply not acceptable."

Question of racism
Mr. O'Hare said neither he nor the suggested ordinances are anti-immigrant or racist, as some have called him.

"What I'm against is people who are here unlawfully," Mr. O'Hare said Tuesday.

Luis de la Garza of Farmers Branch said that if the proposals were enacted, they would unfairly target Hispanics. While immigrants come from all over the world, he said, most people would never question someone with light skin about their citizenship.

"I don't have anything with me other than a driver's license," said Mr. de la Garza, a U.S. citizen since 1993. "I would have to carry a sign saying I'm a citizen. I don't think that's right. ... How will they know if I'm legal or illegal, except for the color of my skin?"

No official proposal
Mr. O'Hare said that no official proposal is in place and that the ideas were just a subject of discussion, so details of how they would be enforced have not been discussed.

But he said that if the city decided to pursue the prohibition on leasing to illegal immigrants, for example, landlords would be required to ask for proof of citizenship – such as a Social Security card or birth certificate – from potential tenants.

He said that there has been no date set for the City Council to continue discussing the matter but that council members will do so after the city attorney has had a chance to study relevant laws and make a recommendation on the legality of the proposal.

Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit over the ordinances adopted by Hazelton, saying they are unconstitutional. Representatives of the ACLU of Texas, LULAC and others have vowed to file suit if Farmers Branch adopts such ordinances.

"I don't think the City Council, including me, wants to spend city money to fight a lawsuit we can't win," Mr. O'Hare said Tuesday.

E-mail ssandoval@dallasnews.com

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/15364287.htm

Posted on Fri, Aug. 25, 2006

Farmers Branch debates immigration issues

By ANNA M. TINSLEY
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

Enraged Hispanics and area civil rights leaders plan a protest Saturday calling for the resignation of a Farmers Branch city councilman who is pushing an ordinance that would make it tougher for illegal immigrants to live and work in the city near Dallas.

Councilman Tim O’Hare said that his efforts are being misinterpreted and that he’s simply trying to bolster property values and the reputation of the school district by imposing new restrictions on illegal immigrants.

O’Hare put a proposal on the table — ranging from fining landlords who rent to illegal immigrants to penalizing businesses that hire them — that is enraging Hispanics and civil rights leaders who plan to protest at City Hall today and call for his resignation.

“It’s an obvious problem in our city,” O’Hare said. “This is not designed to weed out an ethnic group.

“It’s about what is right and wrong and upholding the law. If someone is here illegally, I don’t want the city to have to spend money to support them.”

sub hed
O’Hare’s proposal, which also includes requiring English to be the city’s official language and eliminating subsidies for illegal immigrants’ children who participate in city-funded youth programs, has thrust this small community north of Dallas into the national spotlight.

Similar proposals are being proposed or passed in communities nationwide, as the immigration debate continues to simmer.

“This is preposterous, poor public policy,” said Will Harrell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. “It’s driven by hate which seems to be all the rage. . . . We’ve been fighting such measures in other places and this is one more example.”

The immigration issue reached a boiling point this year when members of Congress argued over whether to make it a felony to be in the country illegally. Area students walked out of school in protest in March; local residents boycotted U.S. companies to protest proposed legislation in May.

In the past year, proposals directed at curbing illegal immigration have surfaced in communities nationwide.

Hazleton, Pa., has drawn attention lately, since city leaders approved an Illegal Immigration Relief Act that fines landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, penalizes employers who hire illegal immigrants, prohibits city employees from translating documents into other languages without specific authorization and makes English the city’s official language.

Several groups, including the ACLU and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, have sued to prevent the act from taking effect next month.

But other communities have also taken action. Last year, police in New Hampshire started arresting illegal immigrants for trespassing; the Suffolk County Legislature on Long Island, N.Y., may adopt a proposal next month to prevent contractors from hiring illegal immigrants; and other cities including Palm Beach, Fla. and Allentown, Pa. are considering proposals similar to Hazleton’s.

sub hed
Farmers Branch — where property values are rising, school rankings are good and the Hispanic population is growing — is the first Texas city known to be publicly discussing ways to curb illegal immigration.

In addition to O’Hare’s proposal, fellow Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Ben Robinson suggested that the city consider prohibiting the assembly of day laborers and asking police to copy residency papers of immigrants and giving those copies to immigration officials.

“What we are having is a discussion of this issue and some potential ideas as to how the city might work in helping solve the illegal immigration problem,” Robinson said. “This is not racism and not anti-immigrant.

“It’s anti-illegal immigrant. How can anyone justify ignoring the fact that an illegal immigrant is a lawbreaker?”

Now civil rights groups are considering boycotting city businesses and have decided to march in protest in Dallas on Labor Day and create a political action committee to remove O’Hare through a recall vote.

“He’s trying to blame immigrants for all the problems they’re having in Farmers Branch,” said Roger Rocha, state director of the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens.

“He is trying to create a city ordinance that will try to resemble what the federal government should be doing — addressing immigration,” he said. “Proposals such as this are really anti-Texan and against what Texas stands for.”

sub hed
O’Hare, elected to the council in 2005, said he’s not worried about a recall. “If the people of Farmers Branch don’t want me to be in office, then I don’t want to be here,” he said.

City attorneys who are reviewing O’Hare’s proposal could report to the council in September. If it’s legal, O’Hare said, the city could draft an ordinance that could come up for a vote in the fall.

Mayor Bob Phelps issued a statement recently saying the city is committed to doing what’s right.

“Illegal immigration and a lack of comprehensive national effort to address the problem has resulted in what amounts to unfunded mandates that local governments and their taxpayers are being forced to deal with,” he wrote. “Our school districts and health care providers, as well as our cities, have found themselves dealing with unprecedented issues, resulting in frustration on all sides.

“We are looking at various tools we have that can appropriately be applied to deal with local issues,” he wrote, also encouraging residents to contact their representatives in Congress.

Local groups, calling for “A Day of Action in Farmers Branch,” will also hold a voter registration drive this morning and a noon “Rally for American Values” at the Farmers Branch City Hall.

-
This report includes material from The Washington Post.

-
www.farmersbranch.info

-
www.lulac.org

- IN THE KNOW Farmers Branch
Population is about 24,000 in this city north of Dallas.

In 2001, the average home value was $117,554. This year, it rose to $149,421.

This year, the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district received an overall “recognized” rating from the state, which requires that 70 percent of students pass all Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests.

In 2000, the Hispanic population was 10,241, up from 4,895 in 1990.

SOURCES: Dallas Central Appraisal District, Texas Education Agency, U.S. Census Bureau.

- - Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610 atinsley@star-telegram.com

http://www.dallasnews.com

Macarena Hernández:
Study up, Farmers Branch, before playing blame game

A council member blames illegal immigrants for his city's struggles, but the facts don't back him up


07:52 AM CDT on Friday, August 25, 2006


I'm going to give Tim O'Hare the benefit of the doubt. I'll take the Farmers Branch City Council member at his word when he says his motives behind a proposal to weed out illegal immigrants from his community are not racist. After all, right there on his law office Web site, he advertises "Se Habla Español."

I believe him when he says he wants the best for the city his family has called home since 1956. Understandably, Mr. O'Hare looks at other suburbs and wonders why Farmers Branch isn't attracting more businesses, including the sort of shops where he likes to spend his money.

"Right now, the demographics of our city won't support higher-end retail," he told me earlier this week. "I don't think we have done enough to keep our city vital, and that's what I'm trying to do."

That's a noble goal.

I just wish Mr. O'Hare had done his homework before pinning the town's economic struggles on the piñatas du jour – illegal immigrants. The 37-year-old lawyer made headlines after he proposed fining landlords who lease to illegal immigrants and businesses that employ them. His effort mirrors others in cities across the country, largely inspired by the Illegal Immigration Relief Act passed in the town of Hazleton, Pa., earlier this summer and now being challenged in the courts.

At this point, Mr. O'Hare says, there are no formal proposals, not even "rough, rough drafts," just heated conversations. The City Council also is debating whether to eliminate funding for children's programs for illegal immigrants, make English the city's official language and end the printing of city documents in Spanish.

Once a mostly white bedroom community, Farmers Branch, not unlike Hazleton, has been attracting in recent years a steady influx of foreign-born residents, mostly from Latin America. Mr. O'Hare says he has no statistics to back up the claim that his town is deteriorating because of illegal immigrants, but plenty of anecdotal accounts and "perceptions" from friends, neighbors and constituents.

I'd like to help him with his research.

For example, Mr. O'Hare, who is single and has no children, says those "less-than-desirable people" moving in don't value education. But a spokeswoman for Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD told me these new residents are hardly dragging down test scores. Instead, over the last few years, scores and school district rankings have improved, especially at the four elementary schools within Farmers Branch city limits where more than half of students come speaking little or no English. "We are also a recognized district," Angela Shelley, the district's media specialist, told me. "We weren't last year."

Mr. O'Hare says he doesn't like freeloaders. We have something in common. I don't like them, either. He says it's not fair for illegal immigrants to get away with not paying federal, state and local taxes. I'd understand his frustration if this were true.

As far as I know, no business, including the Dollar Store, is exempt from charging sales tax. Illegal immigrants also pay city and county taxes through their monthly rent and mortgage payments. Sure, some Farmers Branch residents pay in cash to the workers who mow their lawns or clean their homes. But the majority of illegal immigrants – using fake Social Security numbers – endure payroll deductions like the rest of us. Only most of them, unlike the rest of us, will never see that money again.

According to a Thursday story in The News, about $520 billion in wages is recorded into the Social Security "earnings suspense file" due to mismatched names and numbers. Half of that amount was generated in the farming and service-industry jobs that attract illegal immigrants. And three-fourths was amassed between 1990 and 2003, during the largest waves of illegal immigration. Right now, the taxes on those earnings are going to pay today's Social Security beneficiaries.

This is complicated stuff, Mr. O'Hare, especially considering that most families living here illegally have American-born children. He reassured me that he is not proposing tearing families apart.

"Those are certainly valid issues," he told me, "but I am not the federal government, so I don't have to make those decisions."

Exactly, Mr. O'Hare. Let the federal government figure it out. In the meantime, find ways to revitalize Farmers Branch without unfairly blaming those who have earned a place in your community.

Macarena Hernández is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist. Her e-mail address is mhernan dez@dallasnews.com.

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Let U.S. do its job, Hutchison tells FB

12:00 AM CDT on Friday, August 25, 2006


Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Thursday that overhauling the country's immigration laws was the job of the federal government, not local cities like Farmers Branch.

Farmers Branch City Council member Tim O'Hare wants his colleagues to pass ordinances that deal with illegal immigration. Under the plan, landlords would not be able to lease to illegal immigrants, and businesses would be penalized for hiring them. No city document would be printed in Spanish, and English would be declared the city's official language.

Ms. Hutchison, R-Texas, declined to comment on the merits of the proposals but said the development of immigration policy was a federal duty.

"It is our responsibility, and we should do the right thing," Ms. Hutchison told The Dallas Morning News editorial board. "I understand their frustration. ... But I don't think we should take the responsibility off the federal government. The federal government needs to do its job."

Ms. Hutchison and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., spoke after spending much of the day on the U.S.-Mexico border with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

The lawmakers are pushing a proposal that calls for beefing up border security and then developing a guest worker program. Millions of illegal immigrants would have to return to their home country and register to work in the U.S. at "Ellis Island" centers.

Gromer Jeffers Jr.

http://www.dallasnews.com

Mercedes Olivera:
Latinos getting to work to pack polls

11:16 AM CDT on Saturday, August 26, 2006


For many young Latinos, local politics is normally not a topic for the dinner table.

School, neighborhood events and the next dance are the usual fare.

But when anti-immigrant headlines begin to intrude into your daily life, you tend to pay closer attention when someone tells you it's time to register to vote.

For many Hispanics, that time has come.

Recent anti-immigrant proposals by a Farmers Branch City Council member, combined with an anti-immigrant climate that has surfaced in the weeks leading up to the midterm elections, are beginning to have an impact on younger Latinos in Dallas. Many are U.S.-born children of immigrants, who have worked hard to help their families.

That may be one reason Alberto Ruiz, field organizer for the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, has found a willing audience in recent days as he talks to young Latinos in Dallas high schools about the importance of voting.

"It's not traditional for them to get involved in local politics," he said. "If their parents aren't voting, chances are they won't, either."

But after he tells them that minority communities often don't determine their own destinies because they don't turn out to vote, lightbulbs turn on.

"They don't know that only less than 10 percent of registered Latinos usually turn out to vote in Dallas," he said. "They're listening now."

Mr. Ruiz is part of a voter-registration campaign that the organization kicked off this month in Texas. Oct. 10 is the last day to register to vote in both local and national elections on Nov. 7.

The organization's leaders met with Dallas schools Superintendent Michael Hinojosa recently and got approval to hold a special event in the schools in early September to register eligible seniors to vote.

"We're also going to Wal-Mart, churches, schools" and places where Latinos gather in large numbers, instead of going door to door, he said. The organization is targeting new voters ages 18 to 24.

Volunteers for the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project also will be joining the voter-registration drive being organized in Farmers Branch, beginning at 9 a.m. today.

Organizers with the MegaVoto Coalition, which grew out of the MegaMarcha in April, have joined with several LULAC chapters in North Texas, school parent-teacher organizations and other community organizations to call for a Day of Action to protest anti-immigrant proposals by Farmers Branch council member Tim O'Hare.

Volunteers will meet at Cuquita's Restaurant, 13260 Josey Lane in Farmers Branch, and then proceed to register voters in shopping districts and businesses.

They will then rally at the Farmers Branch City Hall, 13000 William Dodson Parkway, at noon today.

MegaVoto leaders will be announcing a voter-registration drive at 10 a.m. Monday in the flag room of Dallas City Hall.

•

Area council members Elba García of Dallas, Salvador Espino of Fort Worth and Robert Rivera of Arlington will host the second meeting of the North Texas Hispanic Summit next week in Fort Worth.

About 100 people from all three cities attended the group's gathering in March to talk about common concerns of Latinos and develop a North Texas political agenda.

The group will meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Parish Center of the All Saints Catholic Church, 214 N.W. 20th St., near the Stockyards. Health care, public safety and transportation will be discussed.

"We're working on a Web site to coordinate information and news from all three cities and from the issues discussed at these meetings," said Dr. García. "We're moving slowly, but we're moving."

She hopes to have more participation from all Latino elected officials in the three cities.

Mr. Espino hopes to push for more local Latino leadership development, which he believes is especially needed at this time of Latino population growth.


Mercedes Olivera can be reached at molivera@dallas news.com or at P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas 75265.

Councilman Tim O’Hare said that his efforts are being misinterpreted and that he’s simply trying to bolster property values and the reputation of the school district by imposing new restrictions on illegal immigrants.

O’Hare put a proposal on the table — ranging from fining landlords who rent to illegal immigrants to penalizing businesses that hire them — that is enraging Hispanics and civil rights leaders who plan to protest at City Hall today and call for his resignation.

“It’s an obvious problem in our city,” O’Hare said. “This is not designed to weed out an ethnic group.

“It’s about what is right and wrong and upholding the law. If someone is here illegally, I don’t want the city to have to spend money to support them.”

Hope he is getting good support down there. Send him an e-mail if you can.

Mr O'Hare
tim.ohare@farmersbranch.info

Mayor
bob.phelps@farmersbranch.info

Farmers Branch
http://www.farmersbranch.info/CityCounc ... uncil.html

http://www.dallasnews.com

05:35 PM CDT on Saturday, August 26, 2006

Opinion Letters

Kudos to O'Hare's courage

Thanks to Tim O'Hare for having the courage to not only voice but to act upon what the majority in our country believes should be done.

As a naturalized citizen, I find the use of American symbols to support illegal immigration appalling. Yes, Hector Flores, the Statue of Liberty indeed must be crying as she sees this invasion deteriorating the core of our nation.

Yes, this is a nation of immigrants: Immigrants who respect its laws. Immigrants who learn its language. Immigrants who respect its values.

Juan A. Baldor, Irving


Editorial misses the point

Re: "Attention, Washington – Immigration isn't Farmers Branch's battle," Wednesday Editorials.

Washington is constitutionally responsible for securing our borders. States and cities also are responsible for protecting their citizens.

On Interstate 35E, you can get a speeding ticket from a Texas Department of Public Safety or Farmers Branch police officer. It's a federal highway, governed by national speed laws.

We already have a federal law that allows local officers, with training, to enforce immigration laws.

If Farmers Branch chooses to deny business permits to businesses that employ, aid or abet "illegal immigrants," it reduces the "jobs magnet" to its community. Employment permits do not overstep a city's authority. It's up to a city to protect its interests, similar to zoning ordinances it already enforces.

Why not do this the "American way" and have a referendum on these proposals? Or there could be a legal vote to replace those who don't have the courage to do what is right for their city.

Gary Eppink, Garland


Only racism on other side

Re: "Residents clash over illegal immigrant plan," Tuesday Metro.

We were dismayed to see the photograph of a woman and her daughter holding a sign asking if Farmers Branch is racist. We attended the Farmers Branch City Council meeting Monday, and this woman was the only person with a sign regarding race.

My family has frequented Cuquita's Restaurant. We enjoyed the food and friendliness of the staff and try to support local businesses, when possible. No one at the meeting made racist remarks, as illegal immigration is not about race. It is about abiding by our laws.

Now we can no longer patronize Cuquita's because we do not want to support a racist business.

Jim and Linda Subjeck, Farmers Branch




Is this the Christian thing?

At the Web site of Tim O'Hare's law firm, I notice he seems to be a member of several Christian law groups, such as the Christian Legal Society and Christian Trial Lawyers Association, as well as many other Christian groups.

The CLS motto is "Seeking Justice with the Love of God." The CTLA states, "Exemplifying Christ-like character in their homes, office, courtrooms and communities."

Jesus must be proud of Mr. O'Hare's attempt to pass Draconian laws to marginalize, dehumanize and segregate Latino immigrants as second-class citizens in Farmers Branch.

David Ramirez, Dallas




City stands for rule of law

Re: "FB studies tough provisions aimed at illegal immigrants," Monday news story.

Congratulations, Farmers Branch, for taking a stand on illegal immigration. Finally, a city not afraid to publicly admit illegal aliens are ruining its schools, property values and tax base. Every city should follow your example.

Please don't cave to threats from LULAC or the ACLU. Do they think the people who enter this country illegally are upstanding, educated and law-abiding people?

Lois Cossack, Lewisville


Shocked by divisive debate

I have been a proud Farmers Branch resident for 26 years, and the vituperative exchange at the City Council meeting was shocking. I've never witnessed such divisiveness.

Our city is 60 years old, with the problems of any middle-aged suburb in the 21st century. There must be a better way to examine our aches and pains than to throw open the doors to the exchange we saw Monday. I propose city leadership return to the "Forward Farmers Branch" effort from the 1980s that led to development of a comprehensive plan long before neighboring communities explored this idea.

Business and neighborhood representatives, as in the first effort, could be assigned to examine different aspects of our city, with a view toward what the future could be with proper planning.

If we don't make an adjustment now, the only future I see is filled with conflict and dissension.

Kathleen Matsumura, Farmers Branch


O'Hare for higher office

Tim O'Hare's wisdom is wasted as a Farmers Branch City Council member. I'm ready to print up "Tim O'Hare for President" bumper stickers! We need more men with his courage to speak up and take back our country.

Nancy Holzwarth, Dallas


I'm moving to this town

I'm thinking of moving to Farmers Branch. It's about time cities and states began doing what our federal government is afraid to do.

Taxpayers are tired of paying for the services of illegal immigrants, seeing home values fall and making these criminals feel like kings and queens.

As far as Domingo Garcia's racist threats, I say bring them on. The cost of litigation would be a drop in the bucket compared to what illegal immigration already costs legal taxpayers.

Dan Senkow, Wylie


Finally, a politician gets it

If Tim O'Hare is a racist, line me up behind him for the PC pie-throwing contest. He speaks the truth.

Illegal immigrants have helped the service industry sector enrich itself at the expense of our neighborhoods. Those of us in this ground war in America see it. A populist revolt is sweeping our nation because of taxes without representation in Washington.

There is an easy solution, of course: All elected representatives should live in middle-class neighborhoods and have to send their children to the dumbed-down public schools.

Within a year, there will be a flurry of immigration reform statutes that have teeth, not just PC gums.

Tammy Swofford, Irving

http://www.dallasnews.com

Cities, states tackle illegal immigration on their own

Conflicting laws and a bitter divide emerge


03:53 PM CDT on Saturday, August 26, 2006

By DIANNE SOLÍS / The Dallas Morning News

FARMERS BRANCH – This tidy Dallas suburb solicited European settlers through the Texas Emigration and Land Co. in the 1800s, but now it's debating how to control illegal immigration.

Some Farmers Branch City Council members want to pass an ordinance that would discourage illegal immigrants from living and working in the city.

Efforts by cities and states to crack down on illegal immigration are gaining traction across the country as an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws stalls in Congress.

Now this city in the immigrant gateway of Texas may follow in the footsteps of Hazleton, Pa., which passed its controversial Illegal Immigration Relief Act last month.

This year, municipalities have made at least three dozen attempts and state legislatures more than 550 to enact immigration policy on a patchwork basis.

The proposals range from statutes that prohibit landlords from renting to illegal immigrants to ordinances that deny business permits to companies that employ illegal immigrants. But they also include measures that help illegal immigrants, such as funding for day labor sites.

"Unless the federal government acts with a strong voice on this ... we will continue to have these post-hoc initiatives all over the states, and many will contradict each other," said Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, the co-director of immigration studies at New York University.

The assorted laws and ordinances against illegal immigrants are raising legal challenges as a divided public weighs in on the issues.

César Perales, president and general counsel at the Puerto Rican Education and Legal Defense Fund, believes that the ordinances – including the one recently adopted in Hazleton – can be overturned on the theory of pre-emption, which states that only the federal government can make immigration laws. Other legal tools include civil rights laws that prohibit national-origin discrimination, he said.

His group, citing its civil rights mission, is suing to block Hazleton's ordinance and is tracking "copycat legislation."

"It's scary," Mr. Perales said. "Every time we pick up a newspaper, we read about another Hazleton."

Bonnie Gibson, a lawyer at employment law firm Littler Mendelson, said Hazleton copycats spell chaos for big employers.

"If I'm a multistate employer and I have to now deal with laws by municipality by municipality, I'm going to say: "Puhleeze, help me. I can't deal with this.' "

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, won't directly criticize the grass-roots policymakers in her home state.

But she does say immigration policy is "our responsibility" in the federal government and has introduced a bill that would offer work visas to many illegal immigrants. "I don't think we should take the onus off the federal government," she said.

In Farmers Branch, the City Council is studying the matter and hasn't said if or when it might bring such an ordinance to a vote.

Its potential phrasing would bar landlords from leasing to illegal immigrants and punish businesses that hire them.

And it could include a declaration that English is the city's official language, a possibility that caught the attention of one federal agency.

"Do you create language vigilantes by making people think they have to comply with some language ordinance?" asks Robert Canino, the managing attorney of the Dallas office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

"Any time there are English-only rules, we are going to look at it to see if it is discriminatory based on national origin and to see if there is a business justification for it."

Many states are also taking action on illegal immigration, according to a tally kept by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

For example, Colorado now prohibits state agencies from entering into contracts with businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

While federal law has prohibited employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants since 1986, this state law also requires that the contractors participate in a government program that verifies Social Security numbers. That program, known as Basic Pilot, is open to employers nationally on a voluntary basis.

At the same time, some state and local governments are taking steps that either directly or indirectly help illegal immigrants.

In Vermont, a new law requires courts to advise defendants of immigration consequences when pleading guilty to criminal offenses. Those consequences include denial of U.S. citizenship or deportation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Some cities fund day labor sites, where illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens alike gather to seek work. Among them is Plano, which has operated a site since 1993 after businesses complained about men clustering around downtown and darting into traffic.

About 200 people a day now use the site, where a lottery system helps keep order. The contractor must check the work documents of those hired, explains Bob Buffington, neighborhood services manager for the city of Plano.

"It wasn't that we set out to do anything about legals or illegals," Mr. Buffington says. "This was the way we needed to solve a problem."

A few years ago, Austin police led the nation in pushing for the acceptance of the Mexican consular identification card at banks so Mexican immigrants would get accounts, making them less a target for muggings.

Just this month, El Paso Mayor John Cook held a public hearing to encourage lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass comprehensive immigration reform. A resolution was drafted, saying that enforcement of federal immigration laws is "neither a state nor local responsibility."

That's why many took note of Farmers Branch and are watching to see if the City Council will pass an ordinance similar to Hazleton's.

Farmers Branch dates to the 1840s, when the first empresarios were given land contracts. Empresarios take their name from contract law with even deeper roots, when the area was part of Mexico.

Today, with one-fourth of the city foreign-born, many businesses and churches feature Chinese lettering and Spanish-language signs such as Tijera Magica, or Magic Scissors, and Panchita's Bodas, or Frannie's Weddings.

Maria Mancilla manages an apartment complex with many Latino families and said it would be difficult for her to reject an immigrant family that's in the U.S. illegally.

Besides, many families are of mixed status, with some family members here illegally and others who are not, she noted.

There are anti-discrimination laws to contend with, too, she said, listing several.

"Immigrants are the most punctual ones with their rent," Ms. Mancilla said. "And they respect property rights, too."

When Farmers Branch resident Thomas Bohmier heard of the potential for a Hazleton copycat ordinance, he said: "Wow. It's about time."

He said he has nothing against Hispanics, but the influx of Spanish-speaking illegal immigrants into the schools is causing too much disruption. His third-grade son suffered, and that's why he recently transferred the boy to a school with fewer immigrants.

The possibility that some of these children might be the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants doesn't mute his views. "If the parent is here illegally, they need to go back to where they came from," said Mr. Bohmier, a father of three.

E-mail dsolis@dallasnews.com

LEGISLATIVE ACTION

Here's a look at the types of state laws passed this year that concern illegal immigrants:

Employment: Nine states enacted bills. They range from Colorado, which requires all contractors to participate in the federal government's voluntary program to check Social Security numbers, to Louisiana, which allows any state agency or department to conduct an investigation of a contractor's hiring policies if unauthorized immigrants are found.

Law enforcement: Five states enacted bills. They include Oklahoma, which requires that all police and peace officers prove U.S. citizenship or legal immigration status before they are certified as officers.

Legal services/assistance: Four states enacted legislation, all assisting the immigrant. Among them is Kansas, which requires that notaries public advertise that they are not authorized to practice law or give advice as immigration lawyers. In many Latin American countries, notarios are trained lawyers.

Trafficking/smuggling: Eight states passed laws against smuggling or human trafficking

into forced labor. Mississippi has a tough anti-trafficking law that includes a possible prison sentence of up to 20 years.

ID/driver's licenses: Five states have laws. South Carolina mandates that an individual is guilty of fraud if he uses another person's personal information, such as a Social Security card, to gain employment.

Gun permits: Three states passed laws. They include Virginia, which denies anyone unlawfully in the U.S. permission to obtain a handgun permit.