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Valley Park immigration ordinance put on hold
By Stephen Deere
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/25/2006

A judge has temporarily prohibited Valley Park from enforcing its illegal-immigration ordinance, saying that the law appeared to have significant problems.

"There are just some . . . big holes in this ordinance," St. Louis County Circuit Judge Barbara Wallace said Monday in issuing a temporary restraining order.

Attorneys from 11 legal organizations representing three landlords and a fair housing agency sued the city Friday. The suit alleges that the city's ordinance, which targets businesses and landlords that hire and rent to illegal immigrants, causes racial profiling, hurts businesses and promotes housing discrimination.

No one has been charged under the ordinance, but three landlords have said they have been put on notice for allegedly renting to illegals. Advertisement

Kathy Wisniewski of the Bryan Cave LLP law firm asked the judge for the temporary restraining order, arguing the ordinance could not pass legal muster. Its wording was too vague, and only Congress has the power to regulate immigration, she said.

A legal team of 18 attorneys representing the landlords and the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council Inc. attended Monday's hearing. The lawyers were from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Catholic Legal Assistance Ministry, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and other organizations.

Valley Park is one of a handful of small cities across the country that have approved such ordinances based on claims that illegal immigration leads to higher crime rates, overcrowded classrooms and deteriorating neighborhoods. The law fines landlords $500 for renting to illegal immigrants and imposes penalties on businesses that hire them.

Two other communities that have passed the ordinances, Hazleton, Pa., and Riverside, N.J., have also been sued. The ordinances are believed to stem from local officials' frustration over the federal government's inaction on immigration reform.

Earlier this year, the St. Charles County Council considered a law that would have stopped companies aiding illegal immigrants from getting a county business license, contract or permit for five years. County Councilmen Joe Brazil said the measure was part of a national movement "to have local officials take action because federal and state officials aren't doing their jobs."

Valley Park City Attorney Eric Martin told the judge that employers and landlords in the city should not be allowed to flout immigration rules, even if they are federally regulated.

Also, Martin said, he just received the lawsuit Friday afternoon and hadn't had enough time to respond to the attorneys' request for a temporary restraining order.

He acknowledged the ordinance wasn't flawless, but said the problems could be corrected.

"I would contemplate some changes to this ordinance by the City Council," he said.

Another hearing on the lawsuit is set for Nov. 1.

sdeere@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8116