Escondido council divided over Hazleton ruling's effect

By: PAUL EAKINS - Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO ---- Escondido City Council members were split Thursday over whether a federal judge's ruling striking down a hard-line anti-illegal immigration law in Hazleton, Pa., has quashed the possibility of reviving a similar law that was passed and then abandoned here last year.

The two cities are among dozens that have attempted to enact illegal immigration laws, sparking a national debate over whether local governments should tackle what many people say is a federal issue. Some municipal governments say that their cities are being adversely affected by an influx of illegal immigrants while the federal government fails to improve border security or reform the country's immigration laws.

Like the Hazleton law, Escondido's ordinance faced a legal challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union after the council passed it in October. The law, which would have punished landlords for renting to illegal immigrants, was abandoned after a judge temporarily blocked it and the city faced rising legal fees.


Since then, two of the three Escondido council members who had voted in favor of the rental ban, Marie Waldron and Sam Abed, have indicated they would like to bring the law back in some form after the outcome of the Hazleton case.

Abed and Waldron said Thursday that despite the ruling that Hazleton's law is unconstitutional, they haven't ruled out the idea of renewing the rental ban in Escondido.

Waldron noted that Hazleton's law, called the Immigration Relief Act, wouldn't have just punished landlords who rented to illegal immigrants, as the Escondido law would have done, but also would have revoked the business licenses of companies that employee illegal immigrants and would have made English the official language of city business.

"Hazleton did some things different than we did," Waldron said. "I'll be curious to see the comments the judge made on the rental ban specifically to see if we can learn from that and go forward with an improved ordinance."

But Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler and Councilmen Dick Daniels and Ed Gallo all said that the Hazleton ruling has left little doubt about how another Escondido rental ban would fare.

"There's certainly no basis to bring forth an ordinance like that again," said Daniels, who was elected to the council after the Escondido rental ban was passed.

Pfeiler, who voted against the rental ban last year, said tackling the ordinance again would waste more money and would put local government in a role meant for the federal level.

"It still comes back to two issues," Pfeiler said. "We as Americans need to stop hiring illegals, and the federal government needs to step up and deal with the issue. When local cities try to solve the problem, we just spend taxpayer dollars that would be better spent on local services."

Gallo, who voted for Escondido's rental law last year, said that if Thursday's ruling had been favorable toward Hazleton, "I think we would have had some serious consideration" for renewing Escondido's law.

But now, he said, "I don't see that happening right away."

If Escondido were to go ahead with another rental ban and fight the inevitable legal battle, the liberal U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals would be a difficult obstacle to overcome, Gallo said.

"Our chances there are slim to none," he said. "I think we have a tougher row to hoe than even Hazleton."

Complicating matters further, Gallo noted, is a bill introduced earlier this year in the California Assembly in response to Escondido's rental law.

Assembly Bill 976, brought by Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, would prohibit city and county governments from requiring a landlord to "compile, disclose, report, provide, or otherwise take any action regarding" the immigration status of a tenant or prospective tenant. The bill has passed the Assembly and is being considered on the Senate floor.

Council members said they weren't surprised by the Hazleton ruling and that they have found other ways to address the effects of illegal immigration without wading into murky legal waters.

The council is attempting to pass an overnight parking ordinance that would restrict parking on residential streets in an attempt to reduce overcrowding and improve the appearance of neighborhoods. Some council members blame the overcrowding in part on illegal immigrants.

The Escondido Police Department announced a new policy earlier this year of working more closely with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain suspected illegal immigrants who are cited for even minor crimes.

Council members also cited the city's Appearance and Compliance Team that conducts monthly sweeps looking for illegal garage conversions, fire code violations and other property offenses, as another of its efforts to improve the quality of life in Escondido.

"When you have a higher standard in our city, that will probably discourage illegal immigrants from coming to our city," Abed said.


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