Dallas suburb's renting ordinance blocked

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Dallas suburb's renting ordinance blocked

By NOMAAN MERCHANT, Associated Press | July 23, 2013 | Updated: July 23, 2013 3:13pm

DALLAS (AP) — The city of Farmers Branch will decide soon whether to continue a long, expensive fight to defend an ordinance designed to keep immigrants without legal permission to be in the country from renting.

The 5th U.S. Court of Appeals issued another blow to the ordinance Monday in ruling it unconstitutional. Council members of the suburb just north of Dallas are scheduled to discuss their options next month, Michael Jung, an attorney for Farmers Branch, said Tuesday.

Farmers Branch, a nearly 30,000-person bedroom community that is about 45 percent Latino, is one of several cities nationwide that has targeted immigration by enacting renting restrictions. The ordinance Farmers Branch passed in 2008 would have required all renters to obtain city licenses and for a city official to deny licenses to anyone found to be here illegally. Landlords who didn't comply could have faced fines or revocation of their renters' licenses.

The 5th U.S. Court of Appeals on Monday ruled that the law encroached on territory reserved to federal law enforcement. It relied heavy on last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down parts of the Arizona immigration law for similar reasons.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Dallas-suburb-s-renting-ordinance-blocked-4680838.php

[Ash_F]

1. Making everyone go through another pain in the ass registration

So much for small government.

[tammywammy]

2. This has already cost Farmers Branch $6M...how much more are they willing to throw down the drain???

Morons.

[displacedtexan]

3. I remember when Farmers Branch was a blinking red light and not much more.

I know there must be some nice people there, but the ones I knew in the 70's had major sticks up their butts and looked down on everyone who didn't attend their particular church.

This news doesn't surprise me.

[jtuck004]

4. You have to get permission papers to rent a house? And grown adults bend over for this?

Pathetic.

[dem in texas]

5. Farmers Branch is Paying the Price

The voters put a bunch of right wingers on the city council lead by Tim O'Hare. They were responsible for trying to pass the anti-immigrant laws. Codes were even passed to prohibit painting buildings bright color (like in Mexico). O'Hare's attempt to make Farmers Branch all white failed big time. Farmers Branch has a lot of old and poorly maintained housing stock which attracts minorities because of the cheap rents. Rather than do something about the housing, Farmers Branch tried to keep the Mexicans out. They didn't stop to think that if anyone had a little more money, they would go down the road to Carrollton or Colleyville to live. The Farmers Branch property owners are the ones left holding the bag for legal fees that will probably top ten million dollars. Try as I may, I can't feel sorry for them. But things are changing in Farmer's Branch, last election, a Hispanic lady got elected to the city council. Ha! Ha!

[ZRT2209]

6. this sounds a lot like what historically happened in black ghettoes - read the book

American Apartheid