Texas town’s immigrant-renting rule is struck down
The Bear on Jun 01 2008 at 8:22 am | Filed under: Immigration
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas - A Dallas suburb’s ban on apartment rentals to illegal immigrants, an ordinance passed by city leaders and later endorsed in a vote by its residents, is unconstitutional, a federal judge found Wednesday.
Only the federal government can regulate immigration, U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay concluded in his decision.
The city didn’t defer to the federal government on the matter, violating the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which allows for the federal government to pre-empt local laws, Lindsay said.
Bill Brewer, who represented apartment complex operators who opposed the rule, declared victory.
“It’s a good day, not just for my clients,” Brewer said. “It’s a good day for people who are thinking clearly about what is the proper role of municipal governments in the immigration debate.”
Representatives for the city said they had anticipated the outcome. The city has no plans to appeal the ruling because it has already stopped pursuing the ordinance and replaced it with another tactic.
One Response to “Texas town’s immigrant-renting rule is struck down”
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This ruling is absolutely asinine on it’s face. Farmer’s Branch isn’t “regulating” immigration, it is enforcing it. If any municipality has no authority to “enforce” existing laws, then what good are ANY LAWS????
The real tragedy here is that this ruling will be allowed to stand, because they’ve already changed to another law they are more confortable defending. This leaves a bad decision in place with no challenge, and when you don’t challenge a bad ruling, it becomes law, precedent, and, thanks to the asinine practice of stare decicis, written in stone.