Illegal immigration at center of Texas home-renting trial
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas -- A lawsuit was filed Tuesday over this Dallas suburb's latest effort to keep out illegal immigrants by barring home rentals to people who can't prove they are in the country legally.
The suit, filed on behalf of real estate broker Guillermo Ramos, alleges the Farmers Branch City Council violated the Texas Open Meetings Act when it drafted and approved the new rule late last month.
The law requires prospective tenants to get a city license to rent houses and apartments.
The suit alleges that while the council was supposed to be discussing legal challenges against a previous ordinance, it actually was drafting this new, more sweeping anti-illegal-immigration measure behind closed doors.
City spokesman Tom Bryson did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the suit Tuesday.
Farmers Branch's efforts to pass immigration-related laws began nearly two years ago. Nationally, more than 160 local governments have proposed, passed or rejected similar laws, according to the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which tracks the data. Farmers Branch gained extra attention as the first community to propose such laws in Texas, where many Latino families have lived since before statehood.
Council members unanimously passed a 2006 ordinance barring apartment rentals to illegal immigrants. The rule was revised last year to include exemptions for minors, seniors and some mixed-immigration-status families. Residents endorsed the law 2-to-1 in May during the nation's first public vote on a local government measure meant to combat illegal immigration.
Enforcement of that ordinance was blocked by a federal judge who found that city officials had tried to regulate immigration differently from the federal government.
The city then hired a law firm and a consultant to address challenges to the law, and they came up with the latest ordinance.
The new ordinance is set to take effect 15 days after a ruling on the previous law, but that case remains in court.