Farmers Branch voters to decide anti-illegal immigration measure
By ANABELLE GARAY
Associated Press

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas — Residents of this Dallas suburb on Saturday will be the first in the nation to vote to repeal or approve a city ordinance that bans landlords from renting apartments to most illegal immigrants.

Opponents of the ordinance gathered enough signatures to force the city to put the measure on the municipal election ballot. The ordinance requires apartment managers or owners to verify the immigration or citizenship status of each apartment occupant before entering into a lease. Families that include citizens and undocumented members could lease if they meet three conditions: they’re already tenants, the head of household or spouse is legally in the U.S., and the family includes only a spouse, their minor children or parents.

Council members first approved the ban in November and then revamped it in January. They said the ordinance is necessary because the federal government has failed to address the issue.

“I think in the long run...that this pays large economic dividends to our city and our residents and our business. We’re already seeing it,” said Tim O’Hare, the Farmers Branch councilman who led efforts to adopt the ordinance.

So far, more than 1,300 residents have voted during early balloting. That’s hundreds more than the number who voted in each of the past two municipal elections, according to the Dallas County Elections Department.

State and federal observers are expected to be on hand Saturday for the election, said Bruce Sherbet, the Dallas County elections administrator.

If voters approve the ban, the city will still have to defend the measure in state and federal courts from four lawsuits brought by civil rights groups, residents, property owners and business.

Opponents say the ordinance places landlords in the precarious position of acting as federal immigration officers and discriminates against residents based on ethnicity and national origin. Attorneys also allege the ordinance is flawed because it attempts to regulate immigration, a duty that is exclusively the federal government’s.

Attorney William Brewer, who is handling three of the suits, said his clients would seek a restraining order to stop the city from enforcing the regulation and try to get the case to trial.

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