Farmers Branch votes to take illegal immigrant rental ban fight to Supreme Court
By DIANNE SOLÍS
Staff Writer
dallasnews.com
Published: 20 August 2013 11:47 PM
Updated: 21 August 2013 08:57 AM
FARMERS BRANCH — The City Council is not ready to give up its fight to ban immigrants in the U.S. illegally from renting in the city.
The council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court its rental ordinance’s latest failure in court.
The chamber audience erupted in applause — with some jumping from their seats — following the vote.
Council members Jeff Fuller, Ben Robinson and Harold Froehlich voted to appeal. Ana Reyes and Kirk Connally voted against it.
Before the vote, the city’s outside attorney, Michael Jung, agreed to handle the appeal at no cost, at Fuller’s request. Fuller noted that $4 million had already been paid to Jung and his Strasburger & Price law firm.
“I want to stop spending,” Fuller said.
The fight has cost the city about $6 million in legal fees for court suits, and more than $2 million in bills were expected to be presented to the courts for the city to pay by the law firms that had prevailed against the city. But the decision to appeal puts that on hold, pending the outcome by the nation’s highest court.
William A. Brewer III, partner at Bickel & Brewer Storefront and counsel for some of the plaintiffs, said in a prepared statement that the City Council “seems incapable of reading the handwriting on the wall — this ordinance is unconstitutional.”
“It is unfortunate that the Farmers Branch City Council has decided to continue a pursuit that many view as costly and ill-advised.”
In July, the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans found the ordinance to be unconstitutional and superseded by federal immigration law. The city has lost every challenge to the ordinance in federal court in Dallas and at the appeal level.
The Supreme Court takes about 100 to 150 cases each year.
The majority of people spoke in support of an appeal Tuesday night.
Illegal immigration is “an out-of-control, serious problem,” said resident Robin Bernier.
Like others, she noted that city residents voted 2-to-1 for a version of the ordinance in a 2007 referendum.
The stymied ordinance provides that prospective tenants prove they are in the U.S. lawfully as part of obtaining a $5 residential occupancy license.
The city’s building inspector would be responsible for verifying a tenant’s immigration status with the federal government. Tenants or landlords who violated the ordinance could face class C misdemeanor charges under the ordinance.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/commu...-ban-fight.ece
