Dallas suburb cannot bar housing to illegal immigrants, court rules

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Dallas suburb cannot bar housing to illegal immigrants, court rules

By Terry Baynes
Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:18pm EDT

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Monday rejected a Dallas suburb's controversial law that would have prevented illegal immigrants from renting housing.

In a 9-6 ruling, the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a lower-court decision to block the ordinance in Farmers Branch, Texas, finding that the law interfered with the federal government's authority over immigration policy.

The law would have required renters in the suburb to register with the city and obtain an occupancy license. The city's building inspector would verify an applicant's immigration status with the federal government, and landlords who rented to unregistered tenants would face criminal fines or face losing their rental licenses.

By creating new criminal offenses and allowing state courts to review a non-citizen's immigration status, the law conflicted with federal law, a majority of the judges concluded, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Arizona's immigration laws.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/23/us-usa-immigration-texas-idUSBRE96M02Q20130723

[Ash_F]

1. Sounds like a huge hassle for everyone

I thought these republicans hated big government?

[TxDemChem]

2. FB has a lot of racist people out there

I unfortunately work at the FB/Dallas border so I see and hear crap from them every week. The ironic part is that they need the tax revenue, but by their attempts to add more regulations to renters, many families don't want to live in that sort of atmosphere. I used to live in FB 20 years ago, but they pissed my dad (who looks Hispanic) off to the point where he decided to move to a more inclusive area. My boss, who lives in FB, suggested my Mexican husband and I move there. Of course I laughed and told her most Mexicans, if given the choice, would not want to be there. We sure as hell don't. They have really hurt how others view the city.

[Socal31]

3. I've worked in Property Management, and denial based on credit profile would filter most out.

n/t