Posted on 11/15/2006 9:28:56 AM PST by NormsRevenge
CANTON, Ga. - Commissioners in a suburban Atlanta county are considering fining landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, saying the immigrants strain the schools and other local resources.
The proposal would require property owners to prove their tenants live in Cherokee County legally. Landlords who didn't comply could be fined or lose their business licenses.
Georgia earlier this year approved a wide-ranging crackdown on illegal immigrants, and cities in Texas, California and Pennsylvania have enacted laws to punish landlords who rent to illegal immigrants.
The Cherokee County ordinance would only cover unincorporated areas and would not apply to cities in the county just north of Atlanta.
"That is just stupid talk," said George Ledford, a landlord owns two mobile homes in the county.
Tenants say the proposal is unfair, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund in Atlanta said it would fight it.
County Commissioner Karen Mahurin, who introduced the ordinance last week, said illegal immigrants strain resources such as schools and emergency services.
"It is the local level that pays the bills, and (illegal immigration) has the effect of lowering the quality of life locally," said Mahurin, who hopes the ordinance would discourage illegal immigrants from coming to the county.
The commissioners have not scheduled a vote, and it's unclear when the ordinance would go into effect if approved.
"For those who are illegal like me, taking away housing is like taking away our jobs," said Miguel Rodriguez, who came to Cherokee County illegally from Mexico.
ping
all these gov't coulda done this six years ago--why didn't they as the alien invasion been goin on for decades?
Make renters get licenses. That'd protect honest landlords and would probably go a long way in controlling other kinds of crime, like tracking convicted sex offenders on the move.
oh puleez leave landlords out of this. This is really getting to be a whole heck of a lot like NAZI germany. Pretty soon we're going to require mexicans to wear patches on their clothing so the landlords can obey the laws.
Please don't tell me I've been brainwashed by the left. Shelter is a basic human need. If I would be a landlord I wouldn't want the government to tell me who I can/can't allow to rent from me. As far as I'm concerned I'm leasing a property for money, I don't have time and $ to do research on everybody to figure out if I'm allowed to rent to them.
The county can't insure the students they let in are legal, so they leave it to the landlords to enforce the law?
The government schools them but does not allow citizens to provide housing? It makes little sense. If the government can't enforce the immigration law at the school level, how can it force landlords to enforce the immigration law?
The county just north of mine. I may have to move there.
What part of Illegal Alien do you not understand?
You have no right to enter into a lease agreement with an illegal alien; he has no right to be anywhere near your property.
The government shouldn't be schooling them, either. Or giving them WIC, or driver's licenses, or anything else but a one way trip back to their country of origin.
Actually, zoning laws prohibiting multi-family dwelling in single family housing have been in place for many decades. They were passed by democratically elected officials.
And it's obvious you don't live in Georgia, Texas or So Cal.
Nothing like good ol' fashioned conservatism. Make someone get a license to enter into a basic lease arrangement.
I agree that the whole thing is rediculous. Instead of adding another class of business which one must give an SS number (or proof of legality) to, why not just enforce the laws for those activities we already need to do that for (employers and banks). The school system as a govt agency should be able to require it but I don't want to see more businesses asking me for more and more personal information.
Yes ,Maryland is a out of control liberal Cesspool
The township can issue a permit/license, and require a landlord to make sure a renter has one. It's the township who does the checking.
Some crooked landlords actually help arrange for the illegals to come into the country, like crooked employers--they have it all worked out with the "Godfather" at your local "Iglesia Evangelista" or the "Envios Dinero" tienda. This invasion is not random or disorganized--there are facilitators and masterminds.
Disrupt their sweet deal, I say--and you can always move to a "sanctuary" city like Austin, Texas which won't allow enforcement of immigration law.
The feds won't do their job. That's the fact. That's a shame. But it doesn't mean that nobody else can try to do something about invaders coming to your home town.
The idea of a 'license' to rent an apartment is the most ridiculous, un-conservative thing I've heard all day.
I already pay for a border enforcement that I don't get. The conservatives showed up to vote GOP, then the GOP spends the next few days after the election frantically trying to turn the country over to an invasion from Mexico.
If a town can DO something to try to protect itself, I don't mind that a renter has to show up at City Hall and show his driver's license for a rental permit. It'll hurt crooked landlords, and help the honest ones.
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