Posted on 05/21/2007 3:46:07 PM PDT by TaxPayer2000
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas — A federal judge on Monday issued an order halting enforcement of a voter-endorsed ordinance preventing apartment rentals to most illegal immigrants, a day before the ban was to take effect in this Dallas suburb.
U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay wrote that only the federal government can determine whether a person is in the United States legally.
Instead of deferring to federal officials, Farmers Branch has created its own classification to determine which noncitizens may rent an apartment, the judge ruled, also noting that Farmers Branch appeared to have taken federal regulations regarding housing benefits for noncitizens and used them to define who may rent an apartment in the city.
"The court recognizes that illegal immigration is a major problem in this country, and one who asserts otherwise ignores reality," Lindsay wrote. "The court also fully understands the frustration of cities attempting to address a national problem that the federal government should handle; however, such frustration, no matter how great, cannot serve as a basis to pass an ordinance that conflicts with federal law."
The ordinance was to take effect Tuesday, more than a week after voters approved the regulation by 68 percent, according to unofficial election results.
However, "public approval of the Ordinance, by itself, does not guide the court as to whether the Ordinance complies with the law," the judge wrote.
Opponents of the ordinance filed three requests in federal court for an order to stop its enforcement.
The ordinance requires managers to verify that renters are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants before leasing to them, with some exceptions. Violators face fines of up to $500, and each day would be considered a separate violation.
Lawlessness. Anarchy.
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| Birth: | 1951 |
| Year Service Began: | 1998 |
| Appointed by: | President William J. Clinton |
| Education: | St. Mary's University, San Antonio 1974 BA; University of Texas School of Law 1977 JD |
| Government: | Texas Aeronautics Commission 1977 - 1979; Dallas City Attorney's Office, 1979 - 1992; Dallas City Attorney 1992 - 1998 |
| Current Memberships: | State Bar of Texas and Dallas Legal Association |
So it sounds as if only the federal government can pass any laws or take any action to deal with illegal immigration. Which brings us back to Washington and the back room deal that they are trying to pass right now.
Just say NO to Amnesty!!
U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121
U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121
White House comments: (202) 456-1111
Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep
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Yet again, legislating from the bench. Doesn’t matter what the voters say anymore.
If they wouldn't’t allow it , why should we ?
Stop the namby-pamby hypocrisy!
Parity !
This ruling is a joke. More anti-American illegal alien amnesty.
I hope Farmers Branch fights this. I am tired of Latino Racist groups like La Raza (The Race) dictate that illegal aliens have more rights than American citizens
Ridiculous ruling.
You beat me to it !
While I hate the ruling, I understand it. Who's to say that these people aren't here on a Work VISA, Student VISA, H1B Visa or here as tourists or are political refugees (granted, this is a 0.001% likelihood).
We live in a Republic, not a Democracy; and this serves as a great example of why a Republic is superior. This is not a case of mob rule, the judge did his job and indicated 'Why' the law as written cannot work. Now, it is up to the township to find a way to get the same result, within the fabric of the law; or work to overturn that law, or work with the state to create a law that they can enforce.
Once this precedent is set, and the loopholes are filled, other towns can enact legally sound measures to accomplish what this town started.
Black-robed Clintonistas once more.
Like the one Clintonista said: “It’ll take years for them to undo what we’ve done.”
John / Billybob
Somebody needs to stand up to the dictators in black robes.
Somebody needs to stand up to the dictators in black robes.
The law was pretty unenforceable. There is no way somebody renting a room can tell if papers are fake or not. The only accessible citizenship database is for employers only, and any other use is unlawful.
What this means practically, is when they try and nail some landlord for renting to an illegal, he just shrugs and says “Their papers looked good to me”, and there’s not a dang thing they could do to prove otherwise.
The only way they could get around this would be to require that all persons renting in their city have to get police approval before they can rent. And *that* isn’t going to happen.
If not, guess how the enforcement part of the current sham-nesty bill will turn out.
those people can validate their status.
Just change from “illegal immigrants” to “valid Driver License, SSN, plus anything else difficult for illegals to get.
The judge gave a way around this... just avoid “illegal immigrant”.
IIRC that was President Abraham Lincoln.
What if the criminal aliens, crooks, terrorists and narco-gangsters don’t want amnesty? Why should they? Wouldn’t they have to pay taxes? How can you force criminals to become citizens? Why would you? If these people really wanted to be real citizens they wouldn’t use phony ID’s.
NO AMNESTY for Employers or Employees!
It was Andrew Jackson. He also liberated Florida when the Spanish refused to enforce their borders.
I keep seeing this stated as a fact, but I have never been able to verify that it is true. Does anyone know which law or part of the Constitution delegates this only to the federal government?
Illegal aliens are criminals who are invading this country and damaging it on numerous levels from the environment to our health systems. If Washington has its way, the illegal will be granted citizenship and this rabble will decide the future of this country.
I don't see what there is to understand. The city is not asking for the deportation of illegals, only that business within the city comply with a city law voted for by residents of that city. Why is this a Federal issue ?
The stupidity is staggering. Whenever ANYONE hires an employee, isn't the employer required by law to determine legitimacy to work in the US by a hierarchy of specific identification documents (form I-9)? Maybe this requirement should be deemed beyond the scope of an employer's responsibility based upon this ridiculous ruling.
I smell a partisan hack.
Which reminds me. Were there any flags with the action?
It doesn't. This is why elections matter so we can keep out activist judges who legislate from the bench.
See post # 3
Sam Lindsay ain’t no judge, he’s a blackrobed terriorist, dispensing tyranny from the bench. The people of this country, according to this scumbag, have no say concerning their own community. According to “Scumbag Lindsay”, only the government can decide the fate of your community. According to “Judge Scumbag”, our votes don’t count in this country. Here’s a news flash for ya Judge Scumbag, free people have always taken down tyrants like YOU, so enjoy your trip to the trash heap of history, you !@#$%&.
Exactly. I am a property manager for an apartment complex that has a large Hispanic population.
The company I work for just bought this property. We require all applicants to have a valid SS#, which we verify through the credit screening company we use. If a person doesn't have a SS#, they can apply with a tax id number but they must have documentation to prove they can reside and work in this country. We require this for every person 18 or older. It isn't foolproof, someone can always sneak other people in but we are trying our best.
It seems like the word has gotten out in the Hispanic community that we verify information because we have had a large drop off in the number of illegals that apply.
Previous management and ownership rented to anyone that walked through the door.
I think you are right. I think he had issues with the way the law was worded, and did everything but say change the wording to “blah, blah, blah”. If they had phrased the law so that a landlord could not rent an apartment to someone who did not have certain identification, instead of just to illegals, it might have been acceptable.
But, I wouldn’t want to ruin all the ranting on Clinton’s terrorist judges.
Pay them a dollar a month for cleaning their walkway and require a valid I-9 to rent/work.
Using theat same logic, no one can be denied a job because he is here illegally.
Come to think of it, using that same logic, no illegals can be denied state benefits.
They’re fighting it. They knew from the get-go that the ACLU would go judge shopping. They also happen to be in an appelate district where they have a fair chance of getting an honest hearing. So, they’ll take an appeal.
The ACLU’s tactic in these cases is to misuse the ‘private attorney general’ provisions of the Civil Rights Act, which provide that anyone who brings a Civil Rights action and prevails can collect attorney’s fees. They do everything they can to run up the bill and use that to try to club the opposition into submission. One of Farmer’s Branch’s smart tactical decisions was to make the effective date of the ordinance a week after the vote, thereby limiting the amount of fees the ACLU could run up.
Freepers who want to kick in a few bucks to help Farmers Branch in their fight will find a defense fund page here
http://www.farmersbranch.info/Communication/Legal%20Defense%20Fund%20Donate.html
No, it was Andrew Jackson.
This is not unexpected. The defense can easily argue that if it is ruled unconstitutional, then renters will be irreparably harmed.
I got the impression this was a ruling to halt enforcement until there was a final decision. I could be wrong.
The rumor mill in the illegal community is quite active, as you’ve discovered. The same thing works for government on the local level. Towns that aggressively enforce drivers licenses, vehicle registration, DUI, financial responsibility, garage conversion, and lawn parking laws have a tendency to become unpopular with illegals.
;)
I think you’re right. Should be a TRO pending a trial on the issue of whether to permanently enjoin enforcement. Hopefully, they got an early trial date to keep the ACLU from running up the bill excessively.
It’s worth mentioning here that there’s also some piling-on going on. Farmer’s Branch was also sued today for having city-wide City Council elections instead of districts. The three Hispanics suing them claim that if they had districts, there’d be an Hispanic on the Council. This is sort of a private version of the same garbage Bill Lan Lee tried to pull when he was in the Justice Department.
They can’t just pass this law; especially if the people have already voted.
I knew it would happen. Someone once said that there is no issue that you couldn’t find some dumb federal district judge to rule as unlawful. Looks like the ACLU, thumbing through their Rolodex, found that judge.
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