Thread: Round Two: Farmers Branch Vs. Illegal Immigrants

Round Two: Farmers Branch Vs. Illegal Immigrants

FARMERS BRANCH (CBS 11 News) ― The immigration debate is back in the spotlight in North Texas. The City of Farmers Branch will once again take up the issue of renting homes and apartments to illegal immigrants.

Although voters in May approved an ordinance to stop landlords from doing so, a judge's ruling has prevented the law from taking effect.

"Now they're changing the rules of the game. Now they're penalizing everybody. This not only penalizes immigrants, it also penalized home owners and non-Hispanics who have to go through the process," said Hispanic activist Carlos Quintanilla of ACCION America.

The old law has since been reworked to a new proposal. Anyone looking to rent in Farmers Branch would have to pay $5 for a license to rent. Once the application is filled out at city hall, the renter receives the license on the spot. He or she then presents it to the landlord and moves in.

"Nobody at the city and nobody at an apartment complex is making any kind of judgment call about who's here legally and who's not," said Michael Jung, an attorney for Farmers Branch.

Meanwhile, using the applicant's information, the city would then query the federal government's database to see if the renter is legal.

"The decision on who is here legally and who is not will be made by the federal government, and it will be made according to federal law," said Jung.

If not, the renter has 60 days to prove otherwise. If he or she fails to, both the landlord and the renter face fines if the illegal immigrant has not vacated within 15 days.

The city council is expected to vote on the proposal at Tuesday night's council meeting.


http://cbs11tv.com/local/illegal.immigr ... 34295.html

Anyone else smiling as they read this?

Prepare for the sob stories following Tuesday night's decision...

Dixie

Originally Posted by fnsooner

Anyone else smiling as they read this?

Just like I said if you want to stop the whinners of the racial profiling group ask everybody.

Same with drivers, if the police ask every single person they stop...May I see your drivers license and are you a citizen of the U.S. NO MORE RACIAL PROFILING it is so simple!

I hope they continue to keep the heat on!

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

Just like I said if you want to stop the whinners of the racial profiling group ask everybody.

Same with drivers, if the police ask every single person they stop...May I see your drivers license and are you a citizen of the U.S. NO MORE RACIAL PROFILING it is so simple!

I agree 100%!!! It is so simple...

This story broke in the Dallas Morning News a few days ago and just now CBS Channel 11, Dallas, blasts it without attribution. I wonder if it took them four days to perfect their markedly open-borders spin. These activists in the Dallas area won't let the little suburbs get away with enforcement of existing laws, a la, Irving, and they damn sure won't permit any little pipsqueak town make new laws. They've shut down Escondido, Hazleton, Farmers Branch and many others by using the SLAPP tactic. They won't quit until we forcibly expel and lock them out.
Red and blue emphasis added by me.

Originally Posted by Stephanie Sandoval, The Dallas Morning News (click masthead)

Farmers Branch considers new way to ban rentals to illegal immigrants
STEPHANIE SANDOVAL, The Dallas Morning News, ssandoval@dallasnews.com, 06:14 PM CST on Thursday, January 17, 2008

The Farmers Branch City Council on Tuesday will consider a new approach to barring illegal immigrants from renting in the city. The proposed ordinance is intended to address legal concerns raised by opponents of Ordinance 2903, which voters approved in May but which has been held up pending the outcome of federal court challenges. The proposed ordinance differs from 2903 in that it would apply not only to apartments but also to rental houses. It also would place the burden of determining who is in the country legally on the city and the federal government, not on landlords.

"I would say I believe the new ordinance offers a constitutionally valid approach to assure that any resident of Farmers Branch is here legally," said Mayor Pro Tem Tim O'Hare, the driving force behind the city's original efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants. The proposed ordinance would require all adults wishing to lease a house or apartment in the city to obtain an occupancy license from the city. To obtain the license, people would have to provide information about whether they are U.S. citizens or aliens in the country legally. Anyone submitting the form and paying a $5 fee would immediately receive a license and be allowed to move into a rental property. But the supplied information would be checked against a federal database to determine if the applicants were indeed in the country legally.

If federal authorities couldn't confirm that a person was here legally, the license holder and landlord would be notified and the renter would have 60 days to provide proof of legal residency. If he or she couldn't provide such proof, the license would be revoked. Violation of the ordinance could result in a fine of up to $500 per day. The ordinance specifies that enforcement procedures "shall not differ based on a person's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin." The ordinance would take effect when U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay issues his final judgment in what is known as the Villas case. That lawsuit, brought by apartment management and tenants, contends that Ordinance 2903 is unconstitutional and that it would force apartment management to make judgments about renters' immigration status. The suit also contends and that the ordinance defined who is here legally differently than federal law does. Source (click here)