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Illegal immigration rules still on table

Farmers Branch: Council may take up ordinances on housing, hiring


08:40 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 25, 2006

By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News

FARMERS BRANCH – City Council member Tim O'Hare hasn't given up on his ideas of making it harder for illegal immigrants to live and work in the city.

"Our residents are overwhelmingly in favor of passing these ordinances," he said. "I plan to do what our residents are asking me to do."

The City Council is expected to discuss potential ordinances regarding illegal immigration at its Nov. 13 meeting.


Tim O'Hare Just what will be presented by the city attorney next month is still unclear, but Mr. O'Hare wants the proposal to include suggestions he made in August, based on ordinances adopted by cities in other states. The suggestions included penalizing landlords and businesses that rent property to illegal immigrants or employ them.

The City Council also is expected to discuss a federal program that essentially turns local law enforcement into immigration officers by training them to determine whether people who have been arrested are in the U.S. illegally and whether they are eligible for deportation proceedings.

While the illegal-immigrant restrictions are moving forward, the task force appointed to promote redevelopment and revitalization in the city is saying that the publicity over Mr. O'Hare's proposals is presenting a negative image of the city and making the committee's task more difficult.

In a letter, the Branch Revitalization Task Force – the brainchild of Mr. O'Hare and part of a renewed focus on neighborhood revitalization the city launched this year – said the extensive media coverage about the immigration issue and Mr. O'Hare's assertions that property values are down, the quality of schools are declining and crime rates are increasing have painted the city as "divisive and unsafe."

That portrayal, the letter said, could deter businesses from moving to Farmers Branch, or prompt those already in the city to relocate.

"In this competitive corporate climate, businesses cannot afford the additional risk of being identified with a community or environment that connotes any hint of negative publicity," the letter said.

The letter also encouraged the City Council to avoid any action that might invite costly lawsuits.

The letter said the task force supports the resolution adopted by the City Council in September criticizing federal officials for failing to secure the borders. The resolution also encouraged Congress and the president to adopt immigration reform this fall, or the city would pursue local avenues to restrict illegal immigrants. Other cities, counties and school districts were encouraged to adopt similar resolutions.

Has talk hurt city?
Members of the task force either did not return calls or declined to comment about the letter, except for Tim Scott.

"I am on record as being against sending that memo out," he said. "It's outside of our scope of why we were created. I think it was a well-played move by the city manager. I think there are people on city staff that don't want to see the immigration proposals passed and will do everything at their disposal to muddy the water."

City Manager Linda Groomer said she wrote the letter at the request of the committee and received input and editing from members before it was sent to the City Council.

She noted that Mr. Scott was not at the task force meeting on Sept. 19, when the issues were discussed.

Mr. Scott also said he does not believe the immigration debate or any of the concerns raised about the impact of illegal immigrants on property values, crime and school ratings will deter economic development.

Mr. O'Hare agreed.

Task force members, he said, "are an excellent group of business people, and I respect their opinions, but I don't believe it has had any negative effect on businesses locating in Farmers Branch, and our primary responsibility is to our residents and not to businesses that may or may not come here."

Mayor Bob Phelps said he has "no firsthand knowledge" that the national media attention brought to the city by the immigration debate has caused any businesses not to locate there.

But he said his understanding from the task force is that businesses "don't want to come to a place that's involved in a squabble."

City Attorney John Boyle and city staff are expected to discuss immigration issues with the council on Nov. 13, tentatively slated to occur during a closed-door executive session.

"We are not anticipating anything will be acted on on the 13th," Ms. Groomer said. "But there will be some type of framework and options, getting direction from the council on how to proceed with anything, if at all."

Council proposals

Mr. O'Hare has suggested that the council consider ordinances that not only penalize landlords and businesses for dealings with illegal immigrants, but also make English the city's official language and curtail spending for illegal immigrant children to participate in some youth programs.

Council member Ben Robinson suggested the city also consider prohibiting the assembly of day laborers, and authorizing police who question the validity of residency papers of immigrants encountered during traffic stops or accidents to make and submit copies of the papers and submit them to immigration officials.

The council also will discuss the federal 287(g) immigration enforcement program, which gives police departments access to databases to determine a person's identity and immigration status, and decide whether illegal immigrants who have committed crimes are eligible for deportation proceedings.

No Texas law enforcement agencies have undergone the training since the law establishing the program was adopted in 1996. The Irving City Council was briefed on the program this month but decided, at least for now, not to take part.

The Houston Police Department this month announced it would begin asking all arrested suspects whether they are U.S. citizens. Those without identification will be fingerprinted and run through a federal criminal history check.

The program targets illegal immigrants convicted of felonies in the U.S. and have been deported and re-entered the country, or defied an order to leave the country, police officials have said.

Mr. O'Hare said he is undecided about whether to recommend Farmers Branch police seek training under the 287(g) program.

"At this point, I don't know enough about the program to be able to make an intelligent comment," he said.

E-mail ssandoval@dallasnews.com

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