Thread: Farmers Branch residents clash over illegal immigrant plan

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.

If Hutchison had been doing her job, instead of dancing around with Pence and GW we wouldn't be in this mess. You will not be getting my vote this year because you are an OBL sell out and you encourage more illegal immigration. Bye!

Dixie

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/15370944.htm

Posted on Sat, Aug. 26, 2006
Proposals prompt protests in Farmers Branch

By ANNA M. TINSLEY
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

FARMERS BRANCH — United by love for this country, they stood divided Saturday.

On one side were Hispanics — angered by Councilman Tim O’Hare’s proposal to crack down on illegal immigrants — who demanded fair representation and the councilman’s resignation.

On the other were mostly Anglos, supporting the proposed measures and calling for illegal immigrants to leave the country.

Protesters and counterprotesters showed up at Farmers Branch City Hall for a rally over O’Hare’s proposal, making Farmers Branch the latest city to be embroiled in the national debate over immigration.

“We’re in opposition to everything he proposed,” said Hector Flores, immediate past national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “It’s dividing the community racially.

“He is trying to ostracize people,” he said. “The proposal is directed at a group that basically is Hispanic. . . . Maybe 1 million of us will move to Farmers Branch and change government.”

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Many against O’Hare’s proposal linked arms and marched, chanting “ Si, se puede ” (“Yes, we can”) and carrying signs that read “Down with racism,” “We are all humans” and “O’Hare must go.”

Counterprotesters, who said they wanted to show support for O’Hare’s proposals, chanted “Illegals must go” and carried signs that read “You are welcome if you obey the laws” and “I support O’Hare.”

Alice Stephenson came from Dallas to hold a sign — “I place all persons in USA illegally under citizens arrest”— and echo O’Hare’s sentiment.

“It’s real brave, what he’s doing,” said Stephenson, 51. “If all cities did this, maybe our laws would be enforced.

“I would like to see this happen in every city in the United States.”

O’Hare’s proposed measures range from fining landlords who rent to illegal immigrants to eliminating subsidies for illegal immigrants’ children who participate in city-funded youth programs.

The man at the center of the debate wasn’t present at Saturday’s protests.

“That rally is run by a bunch of people who don’t live in Farmers Branch,” O’Hare said by telephone Saturday afternoon, waiting in line for a roller coaster. “I’m not about to resign.

“The support I’m getting from within Farmers Branch is strong,” he said. “If I get recalled, I’ll run again.”

O’Hare’s proposal also includes requiring English to be the city’s official language and penalizing businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

A few other cities across the nation, most notably Hazleton, Pa., have approved similar restrictions.

In Fort Worth, Mayor Mike Moncrief said he doesn’t expect the battle to spread to Cowtown.

No council members have expressed a desire to propose such measures.

“I think it would be divisive to our community,” Moncrief said. “We pride ourselves on diversity.”

On Saturday, though, the hourlong rally alternated between English and Spanish and drew children, families and retirees alike into the sweltering heat.

Dozens of police officers spread out to make sure that the gathering remained peaceful. They did remove, but not arrest, one counterprotester who approached a protester speaking to the crowd, Farmers Branch Police Chief Sid Fuller said.

The immigration issue, many said, does not belong in city halls or state legislatures.

Elizabeth Villafranca, whose husband owns a Farmers Branch business, held a sign that said “Shame on you, Tim O’Hare” and “Is the city of Farmers Branch racist?” in one hand and a U.S. flag in the other.

“I’m outraged over the allegations Tim O’Hare has made,” she said. “He says he’s trying to make Farmers Branch the best city, but he’s pitting people against people.

“We need for Congress to do something.”

Rick Sinks, an electrician from Ennis, said he just wants people living in the United States to be here legally.

“If they are legal, we welcome them with open arms,” said Sinks, who carried a sign that said “O’Hare for prez.”

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

http://www.dallasnews.com

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... &catId=104

Illegal migrant proposal stirs passions in FB

Residents disagree on whether councilman's plan is right move for suburb in transition


12:39 AM CDT on Sunday, August 27, 2006

By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News



FARMERS BRANCH – Drive through Farmers Branch, and its meticulously landscaped medians, tree-lined thoroughfares and 28 parks in 12 square miles stand out.

Its high-rises, home to nearly 2,600 companies, give it the appearance of a major metropolitan city.

But beneath the glitter is a small, aging suburb in transition.

Farmers Branch, bordered by Dallas on the south and Carrollton to the north, has become home to a large number of immigrants. The city was more than 90 percent white in 1970. Today, it is over one-third Hispanic and about one-fourth foreign-born.

Also, the city's housing stock and commercial buildings are showing signs of age and decay.

Now, amid what some elected officials say is part of an ongoing effort to turn around property decline and bring new money and new life into the city, this suburb of about 28,000 residents finds itself in the spotlight of the contentious national debate on illegal immigration.

Council member Tim O'Hare has suggested the city fine employers and landlords who hire or lease property to illegal immigrants.

He also wants to make English the city's official language and end funding for illegal immigrant children in some of the city's youth programs.

The ideas largely mirror an ordinance passed in Hazelton, Pa., this summer. That measure has drawn lawsuits challenging its constitutionality.

On Saturday, more than 300 people took part in a rally at Farmers Branch City Hall to protest Mr. O'Hare's proposal. The rally was spearheaded by several chapters of the League of United Latin American Citizens and volunteers for the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.

Mr. O'Hare and supporters said the suggestions have nothing to do with race or national origin but are about reducing the burden and problems created by people who shouldn't be in the U.S. in the first place.

"I've never said and don't believe all the deteriorating neighborhoods are 100 percent the result of illegal immigrants," Mr. O'Hare said. "I'm trying to clean up Farmers Branch and clean up the neighborhoods and make this place what it once was, or better than it once was, and the illegal immigration thing is one of many things that need to be done."

Criticism of O'Hare

Hector Flores of Dallas, immediate past national president of LULAC, said city officials are unfairly blaming illegal immigrants for trends that aging first-ring suburbs around the country are facing.

"We know what he means," Mr. Flores said. "All those code words. ... It's about poor people. They don't want working-class people there. I think his goal is to exclude working-class people in that community."

Farmers Branch residents Debby Lords and Jean Escobedo said they also are concerned about declining neighborhoods, in particular overcrowding in homes, run-down rental properties, and beer bottles and trash in yards.

But both say Mr. O'Hare is going about it wrong.

"It's not about creed, color or gender – none of that," Ms. Lords said. "I think it needs to be addressed from code enforcement."

Ms. Escobedo said illegal immigrants are part of the problem.

"They don't feel like the laws here should pertain to them," she said.

But she said the community should help illegal immigrants learn English, get an education, find employment and adapt to the culture here that expects properties to be maintained.

Mr. O'Hare said the city's older neighborhoods face not only the problem of poorly maintained properties, but also a rising crime rate, declines in property values or growth in valuations less than the rate of inflation, and lowered performance of local schools as the influx of non-English-speaking students continues.


Crime is down

However, Farmers Branch police statistics show that major crime was down 9.2 percent in 2005. And from January to July of this year, crime was down 8.5 percent in the major categories, which include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and burglary.

Valuations of existing residential properties this year were up 0.9 percent, the smallest increase in a decade, said Charles Cox, city finance director. Since fiscal 1996-97, he said, valuations have risen between 1.4 percent and 12.1 percent every year until this year.

"In the 1999-2000 fiscal year, we had an increase of 4.9 percent. Every year from that point until now, we've had a rate of growth greater than the rate of inflation," Mr. Cox said.

Mr. O'Hare said that despite the numbers, Farmers Branch residents are unable to sell their properties for what the appraisal district says they should be worth.

"You can't get around the fact that for an overwhelming majority of people that live in our city that own homes, that is far and away their biggest asset," he said. "And I think I have a duty to try to protect that asset and help it be a worthwhile asset that returns money on their investment and inspires people to continue to reinvest in their homes."

As for the schools, the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district is rated recognized by the Texas Education Agency, with all five of the district's Farmers Branch elementary and middle schools moving up from acceptable to recognized this year.

R.L. Turner High School's rating remained acceptable. The two DISD campuses in Farmers Branch, William L. Cabell Elementary and W.T. White High School, also are rated acceptable. But Mr. O'Hare said that acceptable is not good enough to stem the decline of property values or keep people from moving out.

"The issues in Farmers Branch are not unlike those of other cities across the country," Mayor Bob Phelps said in a written statement. "In Farmers Branch, we also have a new wave of opportunity with our innovative development. We are actively pursuing a plan for redevelopment that will infuse new life into our residential and commercial areas."

The city has taken several steps toward revitalizing neighborhoods and boosting property values, including acquiring land for development around a new DART station, capping the number of vehicles that can be parked at a home at five, and convening a task force to help market the city and improve neighborhoods.

The city is considering builder and buyer incentive programs to encourage new residential development in older neighborhoods. The incentives would be for buying lots, tearing down decaying homes and building new, larger homes, or for buying existing homes for extensive renovations.


First-ring suburbs

A study released this year by the Brookings Institution, a research organization based in Washington, D.C., found that first-ring suburbs – those like Farmers Branch that are closest to the central urban city – are facing some unique problems.

According to the study, racial and ethnic minorities living in those suburbs more than doubled between 1980 and 2000 and now make up one-third of the population.

First-ring suburbs have become destination points for immigrants, with almost 29 percent of foreign-born residents calling them home. First-ring suburbs also now have more foreign-born residents than major cities do.

Farmers Branch was 90.2 percent white in 1970 and 78 percent white in 2000, according to census figures posted on the city's Web site.

And the percentage of Farmers Branch residents who have at least some college education rose from 37 percent in 1970 to 54 percent in 2000. However, the median household income is lower when the 1970 median income is converted to 2000 dollars, according to the city's Web site.

In 1970, the median household income was $12,756. Converted to 2000 dollars, it was $56,612. The 2000 median household income was $54,734.

"Show me a city that's not in a state of decline. Every inner city and the immediate suburban areas in some areas are in some state of decline," said Mr. Flores of LULAC.

Mr. O'Hare said that illegal immigrants are only part of the problem of the deterioration of the community. But he said that they are benefiting from services and programs funded by city, state and federal tax dollars. That money should be spent serving people who are here legally, he said.

"To all the people who suggest this is race-related, I find that sad. It could not be farther from the truth," Mr. O'Hare said. "Everybody is welcome in Farmers Branch that is a legal citizen or legal alien, no matter what country they're from, no matter what language they speak, no matter what country.

"But if you're not here legally, you're breaking the law, and we want to be a city that upholds the law."

E-mail ssandoval@dallasnews.com

Let me simplify my points for you. Let's take your issues one at a time.

1. Mr. O'Hare's claim that, right now, the demographics of his city won't support higher-end retail. I noticed you didn't respond to that issue, so I will counter your no-response with common sense information! Higher-end retail generally requires higher-end salaries/wages. We Americans are being told that the illegals come here and work for low wages, taking the jobs that Americans won't do. Right? So, the group I listened to Saturday claimed they now are at around (I believe) 43% (I suppose this includes legal AND illegal). SO, if you have a city whose demographics have been so altered by a massive illegal influx, it is safe to assume that their wages are quite low. HOW will they be able to purchase goods from the higher-end retail stores that Mr. O'Hare would like to come to his city? In other words, Ms. Hernandez, HOW will FB support higher-end retail?

2. "..mosty white bedroom community...". Come now, Ms. Hernandez. Let's not be so patronizing. At least you didn't use the "g" word, which is so commonplace among this race. Another debate for another time. You refer to the "steady influx of foreign-born residents..." so casually as to ignore the FACT that the exponential growth is of illegal aliens. However, call it what you will - illegal is illegal is illegal is illegal is illegal....get the point?

3. Let me help you with your research, Ms. Hernandez. Let's discuss the public schools in America right now. Cities that were once predominantly American had American graduates who excelled in the global community with no other country coming in a close second. Back then, students, again being predominantly American, recognized the fact that attending school was a PRIVILEGE bought and paid for for them by their parents' tax dollars. They sat quietly and listened to their instructors and learned. When they were naughty, they were punished (usually on the behind with a paddle) and tended to straighten out and go on to become productive citizens of the United States. I'll let you take the reigns here, Ms. Hernandez, and tell the folks on this blog WHO are the predominants now? If we took a sample test from the early years of this country, even as late as the 1960s and 1970s, the "predominants" would be unable to get past the first page. Would you like to know why? I can offer ONE reason...and I WAS THERE, Ms. Hernandez. I was repeatedly an abused victim. The "predominants", as a common practice, threaten the intelligent students that if they don't give them the answers to the tests, i.e., even simple math tests and history tests, they would kick their *($) during recess. I refused...on a regular basis. I was a 90 lb runt in high school, Ms. Hernandez. I ended up graduating early and missing my SR. year activities JUST TO GET AWAY from the public school system and the abuse. Let me make one thing clear. In my 2nd grade year, I attended an all-black school and lived in an all-black neighborhood (with me and my siblings being the exception, of course). So we DID NOT grow up with prejudices. But you never heard a word in the media about the MAJORITY students being abused -- and I'm not talking about my 2nd grade year either. Pat and T'nanche were our best friends for years. But they wonder why there are few whites in the public school system? You claim the test scores are actually rising. They can do no worse, given that the public school system has had to dumb down all education for accommodation purposes. I noticed that you use proper grammar, Ms. Hernandez. I'm impressed. Have you sat on any significant boards and listened to ill grammar of college graduates? Yes, I can prove that the public school system has been dumbed down for occommodations!! Grammar is but the tip of the ice berg!! So take your credit for RISING GRADES, Ms. Hernandez....it's false.

4. The $520B in the SS. It is a common fact that illegals defraud the U.S. laws by using fake SS cards. Let's prepare a balance sheet and compare the $520B (over appx 16 years) with what the illegals have ravaged in U.S. social monies illegally obtained. Sixteen years is a LONG time, Ms. Hernandez. Are you sure you want us to go back give even a LOW-END estimate of what the illegals have stolen from the U.S. in the last sixteen years? I can assure you, the balance sheet WILL NEVER balance.

And while I'm at it, let me share another FACT with you, Ms. Hernandez of the Dallas Morning News. While trying to sell our house a couple of years ago, we had quite a few illegals attend open house. The parents didn't speak a word of English, and had their children there to interpret. The mother informed me, as to her finances, that they could handle the house payments. She made appx $2K month, but didn't pay taxes and so, couldn't prove her income. Her husband made appx the same, but only claimed a little portion of it. So that's all they could PROVE. She wanted to know if I knew of someone who could finance it for them. Did you get that, Ms. Hernandez? This is FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE of common practice by illegals in the U.S. So her husband only claimed a small portion in order to remain at povertly level so they could continue getting their "free" government monies. Makes me SICK. FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE, Ms. Hernandez. And she wasn't the first either. Shall I continue? So cut the crap about the $520B illegals have paid into SS.

5. Now for my final point, and to REcoin your phrase, "This is really NOT complicated stuff", Ms. Hernandez AND Ms. Olivera. Let me help you on your research. Grab your old dusty American History book and pull out the copy of the American Constitution and study it thoroughly. It's really not THAT long. You may actually discover that you are printing and fostering (whether knowingly or not) a blatant lie. Study up, Ms. Hernandez and you will learn that there is a THREE-PRONG requirement for birthright citizenship. Not a ONE-PRONG of being only being born on U.S. soil. I'll give you the chance to do your homework and bring us back a book report detailing the other two mandatory prongs, Ms. Hernandez. IN SHORT, ILLEGAL WOMEN BIRTH ILLEGAL BABIES. They are NOT American citizens just because they are born on American soil. They are illegal babies born to illegal mommies and they MUST return to their home countries with their illegal mommies and dads.

Americans have always had a tender heart toward the children of the world. But knowing how your race uses those babies as bate and for that matter, in Mexico, they even RENT their babies to people trying to cross the border, Americans are quickly becoming cold-hearted toward the most innocent of all in this nasty battle for America.

WE ARE AMERICANS, WE WILL FIGHT FOR OUR COUNTRY, WE WILL REMOVE POLITICIANS WHO WILL NOT FIGHT TO REMOVE THE ILLEGALS FROM THIS COUNTRY. MAKE NO MISTAKE, MS. HERNANDEZ. LULAC AND THE ACLU DO NOT FRIGHTEN TRUE AMERICANS.

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."

I would have expected nothing less from Sen. Hutchison. I think she is afraid that actual enforcement of our immigration laws might actually work, which would make the Pence/Hutchinson Immigration Reform Bill obselete and its guest-worker program a no go! President Bush and those that voted for S. 2611 are also afraid of enforcement, because if it actually works, which it would if taken seriously, there would be no need for a comprehensive immigration reform bill. I am of the opinion that the only way serious enforcement is going to happen is if cities and states take it upon themselves to ensure some of the promises of The Immigration Reform and Control Act (Simpson-Mazzoli Act, IRCA, Pub. L. 99-603, Nov. 6, 1986, are kept. I'm convinced the House has the right idea, we just need to put everything we have into enforcing the laws already on the books!

http://www.dallasnews.com

Jacquielynn Floyd:
Naiveté can lead to notoriety

12:04 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 29, 2006


Farmers Branch City Council member Tim O'Hare says addressing what he calls "the illegal immigration thing" was just one of many ideas he has for restoring the city's rundown neighborhoods.

He would have been wiser to start with something else.

But that horse is way out of the barn now, and there's no getting it back inside. What should have been a serious discussion about the pressures and problems besetting countless bedroom communities of mature years has become something else entirely. Now it's just one more unproductive, name-calling screamfest between opposing teams of single-issue blowhards.

And that's too bad, because Farmers Branch – and a lot of communities like it – really does have a lot to contend with: aging housing stock, heavy code enforcement demands and disconcertingly rapid demographic change.

Also Online
Hispanics counter anti-migrant idea with buy-in plan
I honestly don't blame people for being upset when they think their hometown, the place where they bought homes and raised kids and plan to live till they die, is going to the dogs.

It's a pretty normal human reaction.

Mr. O'Hare, the author of a now-infamous set of proposed city ordinances aimed at getting rid of illegal immigrants, doesn't really sound like a terrible person. His worst offense is naiveté.

He didn't seem to realize he was pulling the pin on a public-relations grenade when he brought all this up.

You get the sense instead that he's one of those guys who has spent so much time holding court with the same circle of grumpy old-timers down at the doughnut shop that he thinks he has his fingers applied to the pulse of public opinion.

But he hasn't done his hometown any favors. Farmers Branch has now been swept into a frantic national political melodrama that it cannot control.

Firebrand minority leaders are happy to find a juicy new target to label "racist." They're rushing to join battle against the yodeling legions who genuinely believe life would be perfect if only the guvmint would round up all those aliens and ship 'em back over the border.

Both viewpoints are empty-headed simplifications, but it's always more fun to holler and brawl than it is to make tough choices and sober policy decisions. Farmers Branch may find itself crushed beneath the cannon wheels in this fight between culture warriors who don't really care what happens to one little Texas suburb.

Consider that the city's top stated priority – economic redevelopment – is materially harmed if the whole town gets stuck wearing the "racist" dunce cap. If they want Whole Foods and Pottery Barn, this is not the way to get them.

The most sensible suggestions I've heard about all this, in fact, came from two Farmers Branch residents, ordinary Joes who spoke to Dallas Morning News reporter Stephanie Sandoval. Debby Lords and Jean Escobedo both said they're concerned about trashed-out rental property occupied by illegal immigrants who don't have a stake in the community.

But the women said the solutions lie in aggressive code enforcement combined with a campaign to encourage cultural assimilation. Makes sense to me.

To its credit, the town is taking steps in that direction. There's a new law limiting the number of cars that can be parked at one house; the city has acquired land for development around a new DART station. It's looking at ways to encourage new housing or renovation in rundown sections.

Still, like so many communities, Farmers Branch is paying the price for the U.S. economy's bottomless addiction to the crack pipe of cheap immigrant labor.

And like a lot of other postwar, inner-tier suburbs, it suffers because cheap land and tradition make it easier to build spanking new communities ever farther away than to redevelop closer-in neighborhoods.

Adopting Mr. O'Hare's proposals is not going to fix those problems. It will, however, get Farmers Branch on the evening news.

It'll encourage news crews to hunt for harrowing footage of grandmas and little kids who can't produce green cards being thrown out in the street. It will cement the town in the nation's consciousness as an enclave of cranks and bigots.

Is that really what they need?

E-mail jfloyd@dallasnews.com

Metro columnists' blog at

DallasNews.com/boldtypes

http://www.dallasnews.com

Hispanics counter anti-migrant idea with buy-in plan

FB: Group hopes Latinos purchase all 157 homes on market


12:05 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 29, 2006

By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News

One City Council member's idea to limit illegal immigrants in Farmers Branch has prompted a plan by opponents to promote and sell homes in the city to Hispanics – including illegal immigrants.

A group of Hispanic and civil rights groups on Monday announced Compre Farmers Branch, a consortium of real estate agents, lending institutions and others aimed at helping Hispanics buy homes in Farmers Branch. Compre is Spanish for "buy."

They're hoping Hispanics will purchase all 157 homes they say are on the market in that city – including the home of City Council member Tim O'Hare.

Also Online
Floyd: In FB debate, naiveté leads to notoriety
Mr. O'Hare has come under fire by the groups for suggesting that the city consider adopting local ordinances that would make it harder for illegal immigrants to live and work in the city. The ideas include penalizing landlords and employers who lease property to or employ illegal immigrants, making English the city's official language and eliminating subsidies for illegal immigrant children to participate in some of the city's youth programs.

The groups have said the suggestions are an attempt to rid the city of Hispanics and called Mr. O'Hare and his ideas racist.

Mr. O'Hare said his issues are only with people who are in the country illegally and have nothing to do with race, ethnicity or national origin. The ideas are part of a larger attempt to clean up and turn around neighborhoods that are in a state of decline, he said.

"It's the American dream. ... Raise your family in a nice idyllic place like Farmers Branch, in the shadow of Big D," said Hector Flores, immediate past national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "It's idyllic, Main Street, U.S.A. We thank ... [Mr. O'Hare] for bringing that to our attention."

Mr. O'Hare said he's glad to see the Farmers Branch effort.

"Any and all races are welcome to come buy my home," he said. "I have no problem with people of Hispanic heritage buying a home. I have a problem with anyone who is here illegally moving to or living in Farmers Branch."

Mr. O'Hare said his home has been on the market on and off for several months as he seeks a larger home elsewhere in the city with a view of a creek, lake or golf course, and more space in the back yard for him to indulge his hobby of gardening and landscaping.

E-mail ssandoval@dallasnews.com

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 4f859.html

Give me a break

Farmers Branch is trying to solve illegal immigration because Washington won't, says MARK DAVIS, and it has nothing to do with racism


12:00 AM CDT on Wednesday, August 30, 2006


Farmers Branch, Texas.

The name suggests a babbling brook running through fields of freshly baled hay. The reality is Interstate 35 running through blocks of suburban homes and businesses northwest of Dallas.

But there's still plenty of babbling. Farmers Branch has become the latest epicenter for the type of shrill protest that arises whenever anyone suggests getting serious about our immigration laws. First came Hazleton, Pa., where Mayor Lou Barletta pushed the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, punishing landlords who rent to illegal aliens and businesses who hire them. English became the town's official language, eliminating polylingual legal documents and signs.

Communities across America are considering doing the same, but it is in Farmers Branch where City Council member Tim O'Hare stepped forward to say that illegal immigrants are responsible for many of the city's problems.

There is nothing in his slate of Hazleton-style proposals that would make life one speck more difficult for the numerous city residents who are English-speaking legal immigrants.

But with annoying predictability, along came the catcalls of racism. The League of United Latin American Citizens and other voices of Hispanic advocacy rushed to slap a clumsy label of bigotry onto anyone agreeing with the new proposals.

"Farmers Branch is now going to be a city of hate," moaned former LULAC national president Hector Flores. "The Statue of Liberty must be crying right now."

Maybe she's just gagging from such ridiculous rhetoric. If Lady Liberty has anything to truly cry about, it is the sad fact that immigration has deteriorated from something that made America great to something that threatens its very future.

In the 50 years from the Industrial Revolution to the Great Depression, millions of people flowed into America dedicated to embracing our culture, learning our language and assimilating into our value system.

Those traits are all too rare today, even among some legal immigrants. Add in millions of people who thwart our nation's laws the moment they arrive, and you have the crisis that faces us today.

Our porous borders are proof that the federal government lacks the spine and resolve to close them to illegals and deport the ones we find. Millions of Americans, starving for reforms that respect our laws and borders, will take whatever they can get, even if it's just some get-tough measures from City Hall.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas seeks to dissuade communities from enacting immigrant-related local measures, arguing that such matters should be addressed in Washington.

Well, wouldn't it be a grand day if her constituents had a lick of hope that something might actually happen? In this mealy-mouthed era of guest worker programs and a "welcoming country," even Republicans cannot be counted on to stand up for effective borders and the rule of law.

Let's have our federal officials butt out of what cities might wish to do in the absence of leadership from beneath the Capitol dome. If towns in Texas or Pennsylvania or anywhere else want to enact measures that deal with a problem Washington doesn't have the stomach for, let's have those debates in those towns.

But let's have them rationally.

All who oppose laws cracking down on illegals must purge all baseless, slanderous reflex cries of racism from their arguments. I know that the vast majority of illegals in America are from Latin America. But in many places (like Farmers Branch, for example), so are the vast majority of law-abiding, English-speaking immigrants who are part of what make their communities and our country great. They are welcomed with open arms by Mr. Barletta, Mr. O'Hare and all of us who want tougher immigration laws.

This is not racial. It is behavioral. And as long as the federal status quo, from the president on down, refuses to provide remedies, local governments will be tempted to pick up the slack.

The Mark Davis Show is heard weekdays on News/Talk WBAP-AM (820) and nationwide on the ABC Radio Network. WBAP airtime is 9 a.m. to noon. Mark Davis' column appears Wednesdays in Viewpoints, and his e-mail address is mdavis@wbap.com.