Posted on 12/26/2006 10:50:46 AM PST by Aggie Dad
Two civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new law in a Dallas suburb that outlaws renting apartments to illegal immigrants, alleging the ordinance violates federal law and forces landlords to act as immigration officers.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed the suit on behalf of residents and landlords in Farmers Branch, just north of Dallas. It is the third lawsuit brought against the city since the ordinance passed in November.
The lawsuit claims the measure, scheduled to take effect Jan. 12, is so poorly drafted that it excludes even legal immigrants from renting.
"Immigration enforcement must be left to the federal government, not each local municipality," said Lisa Graybill, legal director of the ACLU of Texas. "Otherwise Texas will end up with a patchwork system that is impractical and unenforceable."
Farmers Branch spokesman Tom Bryson said the city will not comment on pending litigation.
On Friday, the owners of three apartment complexes filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to declare the rent law unconstitutional. In another lawsuit filed earlier this month, a Farmers Branch resident alleged that the mayor repeatedly violated the state's open meetings laws to deliberate the ordinances.
The new law calls for property managers or owners to verify the immigration or citizenship status of apartment renters. The City Council also approved resolutions making English the city's official language and allowing authorities to become part of a federal program so they can enforce immigration laws.
Since 1970, Farmers Branch has changed from a small, predominantly white bedroom community with a declining population to a city of almost 28,000 people, about 37 percent of them Hispanic, according to the census.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
What's next? The gubmint will outlaw renting out to child molestors next to a school before you know it. Aw what a slippery slope that would be.
/sarc
If it turns landlords into "immigration officers" then so do requirements of legal proofs turn employers into "immigration officers".
On another subject, this could be related to zoning/eminent domain. Is the zoning commission allowed to stop you from renting out you home to citizens too ? Can the govt. prevent you from subdividing your lot to build a 2nd rental house ? Can they force you to provide emergency housing to the govt. in times of emergency ?
So the government, utterly incapable and unwilling to solve a problem, dumps responsibility onto citizens, giving them the expenses that go with it.
This is unreasonable because the governemnt hasn't given anyone a method of determining who is illegal and who is legal. Yet the burden is on the citizen.
maybe they'll sue on behalf of gun show sellers claiming sellers are being turned into ATF agents.
In this case, the city passed the ordinance precisely because the feds weren't doing anything about immigration.
I understand that it is already illegal under the Immigration Law for citizens to aid or harbor illegal aliens. The City is simply requiring landlords not to violate Federal law - I see nothing wrong with this.
"Immigration enforcement must be left to the federal government, not each local municipality," said Lisa Graybill, legal director of the ACLU of Texas.
Checking IDs is NOT enforcement. Besides people should feel a civic duty to help stop lawbreakers. Nope. Leave it all to Uncle Sugar, just like the schools. I don't much feel for citizens who abdicate their freedoms in exchange for less responsibilities.
Bingo!
Don't call the police if you see someone robbing a bank. That is not your job.
Another example of the tail wagging the dog.
The government has given a very clear and simple method of determining who is illegal and who is legal: you must have either a valid working visa in your passport and the validity dates are very clear on the page, or a green card, or a US passport/citizenship certificate, or a US birth certificate, all of which must be presented with another form of the government ID, ie driver license.
If the government does not want to enforce the existing laws, it's up to the people to do so...
No. Just unpaid "tax collectors".
See why this country deserves The Hildabeast. A real nation watching out for it's people would put the ACLU up on RICO statutes if they could find them before the people hung them all.
That's about where we are today, when challenging the catering to illegals is the issue when CITIZENS try to live by the laws, while the ACLU defends the law-breakers.
Since illegals, literally, are NOT in this country, they have no right to complain about how this country operates locally, regionally, OR nationally, in my book.
ACLU and MALDEF trying their hardest to tear down this nation.
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