Posted on 05/12/2007 8:20:29 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas — Voters deciding Saturday whether to repeal or approve an ordinance prohibiting landlords from renting apartments to most illegal immigrants have seen the issue divide neighbors in their Dallas suburb. They will be the first in America to vote on a regulation requiring apartment managers to verify that renters are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants before leasing to them. Minors and people 62 and over are exempt from having to prove their immigration status or citizenship. Families that include citizens and illegal-immigrant members could lease if they meet three conditions: they're already tenants, heads of households or spouses are legally in the U.S., and the family includes only a spouse, their minor children or parents.
Council members first approved the ban in November without discussion, taking comment from the public only after their vote, saying the federal government has failed to address illegal immigration. Councilman Tim O'Hare, the ordinance's lead proponent, contends the city's economy and quality of life will improve if illegal immigrants are kept out. Since then, Farmers Branch has become the site of protests and angry confrontations.
"The thing that strikes me most about it, is just the level of emotion, the level of frustration regarding the whole immigration issue," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University...
By then, the city was facing four lawsuits brought by civil rights groups, residents, property owners and businesses... Their attorneys say the ordinance attempts to regulate immigration, a duty that is exclusively the federal government's. One lawsuit also alleges the council violated the state open meetings act when deciding on the ordinance.
Opponents of the regulation gathered enough signatures to force the city to put the measure on the municipal election ballot.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Wonder if the same people who forged and stole I.D cards will forge voters registration applications and turn out the illegal crowd to get out the vote, making sure it is overturned.
The new "American way" don't like the outcome of an election, file a lawsuit. Thanks Al Gore, Thanks Florida
I drove through Farmers Branch last night to do an unscientific “yard sign” poll. I counted at least a 3:1 ratio of homes with a For sign to those with an Against sign.
The kicker in all this is that the group that got the issue on the ballot “Let the Voters Decide” says that if the voters approve it, they will go to court to stop it.
$^*(##)_*#* #$&*()*$ hypocrites!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good thing we don't live in one.
Or at least we used to not live in one....
That being said, Farmers Branch is perfectly within their rights to do both pass and enforce this ordinance.
L
I agree with you that this country is a republic, not a democracy, but in this case, where the voters are being allowed to vote directly on a law, I don’t know how else to characterize it.
If the illegal laws were being enforced in the first place, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. Sad but glad these citizens decided enough is enough.
I hope every eligible voter in Farmers Branch gets off their ass and votes. It should be sure to pass then.
Bill
Over and over again we keep hearing “That’s the federal governments responsibility so you cannot do it.” When will the tipping point be reached? What is it going to take before people to finally stop this nonsense? Voting sure isn’t doing it.
Of these 14,000 voters, how many are illegal aliens?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Whatever happened to “of the people”?
“Over and over again we keep hearing “That’s the federal governments responsibility”
That’s what the TN Gov says each and every time he vetos good laws to control the illegal alien invasion in our state..
Come July 1st, GA law goes in effect...
I’m happy for our great Americans in the lovely state to our immediate south, but tens of thoussands of the illegal aliens from there will flood into TN, AL and (hopefully in huge numbersd) Lindsey Graham’s SC..
We have no protective laws in place right now to ward off the certain drain on the state coffers for non-emergency medical-care, welfare, food stamps, other government freebies, schooling, jail housing, law enforcement services, etc....
American citizen tax-payers will be denied both jobs and housing in favor of illegal aliens who should not be in the US in the first place...
And crime and drunk driver fatalities will rise dramatically...
I wonder if the federal election monitors there will have anything to say about non-registered voters being turned away.
No problem. Just have grandma rent the place and then everybody moves in.
As much as I'm against illegal immigration, the way to go about it is NOT to restrict the rights of other property owners as to who they can or can't rent to.
That's just mob rule.
Of course, the concept of keeping them out in the first place goes right over the tops of our 'representatives' heads.
As a legal immigrant believing in the USA rule of law 'by the people',this must be most discouraging to you. I know it is to me and my family has been here since the 1600's and some before that. Not exactly what we had in mind was it, Nana?
Nope
No, actually it's against federal law to rent to an illegal or give them any 'sanctuary'.
It passed by 68 percent.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.