Well, it looks like if they do it in Texas, they get sued. The city of Farmers Branch city council decided to approve a couple of new ordinances in their city which has the citizens up in arms. I'll be picking parts out of this article throughout this piece.
Farmers Branch
on Monday (13 Nov 2006 – ed.) adopted strict measures against illegal immigrants, requiring
apartment renters to provide proof of citizenship or residency and
making English the city's official language.The City Council
also unanimously agreed to let police apply to participate in a federal
program that would enable them to check the residency status of
suspects in custody and initiate deportation proceedings in certain
cases.
OK, so what is the big deal? All they are doing is requiring people who live in apartments in their town to be legal US citizens, and they adopted English as the official language, much like the state of Arizona did in the last election. Plus, they are going to allow the police to participate in a program which would allow them to deport illegals. I'm not seeing the issue here, but apparently some people are.
Some Hispanic activists said they will sue the city over the decisions.
“Tomorrow in the courts. I'm winning tomorrow,” said Jorge Rivera, an
Irving community activist. When he addressed the crowd after the
decision, he said in Spanish, “Don't worry, we are going to win.”Dallas activist Domingo Garcia also vowed to sue.
Representatives of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education
Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, however, said the
language of the resolutions and ordinances approved Monday are
different from what other cities have adopted – and over which they
have sued. They said they will have to review the language before
deciding whether to pursue legal action against Farmers Branch.“It's hard for us to have firm, specific legal opinions, but we're all
disappointed they chose to pursue this divisive path,” said Rebecca
Bernhardt, immigration, border and national security policy director
for the ACLU of Texas.Luis Figueroa, legislative staff attorney for MALDEF, said he, too, was disappointed.
“Farmers Branch will likely feel the negative effects of this measure
in its economy, as well as with increased racial tensions,” he said.
So, the ACLU and MALDEF are going to sue. I think it's interesting that the ACLU spokesperson said “It's hard for us to have firm, specific legal opinions.” I read two things into that. First, they don't know what they can attack to make what Farmers Branch has done unconstitutional. Second, it's hard to make something unconstitutional when the people who the ordinance work against don't have protection under the Constitution of the United States anyway. Further down in the article was another little gem I wanted to point out.
As members of
Hispanic and civil rights groups led their followers in chants of “We
are Americans,” one woman shouted back, “No you're not.”
That's what really galls me in this whole thing. They claim that they are Americans because they crossed our border and work here now. However, living here no more makes the Americans than me living on Mars makes me a Martian. Me dressing up like a cop doesn't make me a cop. If they choose to follow the law and come here legally, then become a citizen I will welcome them with open arms. The United States is the greatest nation in the world. However, if they choose to break the law as their first action in this country, they need to be deported. Stand in line with the rest of the people wanting to get in. One more thing. For context, Tim O'Hare is the council member who first brought these ordinances up.
They bore signs asking, “Mr. O'Hare, What would Jesus do?” and saying, “In God We Trust, O'Hare is unjust.”
Jesus wouldn't have broken the law to get here in the first place.
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