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Fifth Column
Texas Town Joins Illegal-Immigrant Trend
2006-11-13
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas — This Dallas suburb could become the first city in Texas to adopt a sweeping ordinance intended to keep out illegal immigrants, a cause for concern among its large minority population.

More than 50 municipalities nationwide have considered, passed or rejected laws banning landlords from leasing to illegal immigrants, penalizing businesses that employ undocumented workers and making English the local official language.

Susie Hart, who grew up in Farmers Branch, said during a recent demonstration outside City Hall, "The education system is tanking, health care has gone through the roof, everybody is bilingual."

The measure is expected to be submitted to the council on Monday, but there was no indication when it might be put to a vote.

Since 1970, Farmers Branch has changed from a small, predominantly white bedroom community with a declining population to a city of almost 28,000 people, about 37 percent of them Hispanic, according to the census. It also is home to more than 80 corporate headquarters and more than 2,600 small and mid-size firms, many of them minority-owned.

The local debate over illegal immigration began in August and spawned demonstrations by both sides of the issue. Council members adopted a resolution criticizing the federal government for not aggressively addressing the issue.

The Farmer's Branch proposal follows a vote this year in Hazleton, Pa., to fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, deny business permits to companies that employ them and require tenants to register and pay for a rental permit. However, a federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the Hazleton ordinance while he considers a lawsuit against the town by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups.

More than a dozen other Pennsylvania cities have taken up similar ordinances, as have several others in the South and a handful in California.

Many of the towns and counties have based their ordinances on a model provided by the Immigration Reform Law Institute, which favors limits on immigration and is affiliated with the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

And in North Carolina Gaston County: No funds for illegal residents
Gaston County commissioners have directed county officials to stop funding programs for undocumented immigrants in what marks the Charlotte region's most aggressive measure against illegal immigration. The resolution, passed Thursday by the all-Republican board, blames people living here illegally for a variety of social ills, and also orders county officials to limit their ability to live and work in the county. The resolution also directs county departments not to contract with companies that hire illegal immigrants, and it calls for a limit on the number of people who can live in rental homes.

More than half of the estimated 600,000 Hispanics in the North Carolina are believed to be in the country illegally. According to 2005 Census Bureau figures, about 9,500 Hispanics live in Gaston County, which has a population of about 196,000.
Posted by:trailing wife

#7  Politics aside, things are starting to accelerate on this front, at least as far as I can tell through my naivete. With regard to this issue, I'm going to hope that local trumps national.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-11-13 23:11  

#6  Not to worry, Rob. Soon the slide will be from "minority population" to "Americans". Time to brush up on your Spanish.
Posted by: Excalibur   2006-11-13 10:25  

#5  This Dallas suburb could become the first city in Texas to adopt a sweeping ordinance intended to keep out illegal immigrants, a cause for concern among its large minority population.

NB: the casual glide from "illegal immigrants" to "minority population".
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2006-11-13 07:39  

#4  ...And Charlotte is considered liberal for NC. This will be fun to watch...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2006-11-13 06:58  

#3  Just soooooooooooooooo weird, t'aint it, for a TEXAS/TEHAS town to believe that US taxpayer paid-for benefits should go first to, surprise surprise, de facto US Citizens, LEGAL RESIDENTS, + LEGAL IMMIGRANTS afore non-Citizens and Illeeegawls. D *** NGED LAW-ABIDERS! Next thing you know they'll want elected Pols to tell the truth and have a detailed agenda - WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO WHEN BUILDING THE MANHATTAN PROJECT IS NOT THE SAME AS POLS HAVING = HIDING SECRET MISTRESSES, CIGARS, ETAL. .... AT STATE + TAXPAYER EXPENSE IN THE NAME OF NATIONAL SECURITY!? Sooooooooooooo H-A-A-A-R-D AND DIFFICULT AND INCONVENIENT.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2006-11-13 04:35  

#2  Yup. Y'know, after 5+ days of hurling chunks, my pet rock gets it, thanx.
Posted by: .com   2006-11-13 03:09  

#1  This is the sort fo thing a lot of the Dem candidates in Red areas ran on adn it helped them ot beat Repubs who basically did nothing in terms of getting tough on illegal immigration.

Biy are they in for a shock when Pelosi uses the power these peopel got her to do exactly the opposite with the amnesty she and the libseral have in the works.

Repubs have nobody to blam but themsleves - all they ahd to do was listen. The isllegals stuff has been rumbling here on the Burg and in conservative blogs for quite some time.

Bush and his amnesty blew it.

Posted by: OldSpook   2006-11-13 01:32  

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