Lawsuit filed vs. Farmers Branch measure

A lawsuit was filed last week against an anti-immigrant ordinance in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch, Texas. The case was brought up by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the American Civil Liberties Union who contend that the city’s plan is unconstitutional. The ordinance would obligate apartment renters to obtain a special license and force rent applicants to have their immigration status checked on a federal database.

The Farmers Branch plan was supposed to take effect last Saturday but it has been impeded by several injunctions. In the latest injunction, U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle ruled that local authorities were overstepping their authority:

In granting a request for a temporary restraining order to keep the ordinance from going into effect, U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle ruled Friday that the ordinance’s opponents are likely to prevail at trial with their argument that, among other points, the city is overstepping its authority by enforcing areas of immigration law reserved for the federal government.

This can create a "slippery slope," Boyle said. "The federal government’s authority over immigration would effectively be eviscerated," Boyle said from the bench.

Image- New York Times (“Protesters gathered (in 2006) outside City Hall in Farmers Branch, Tex., to object to city ordinances that would affect illegal immigrants.”)

Sources- News Radio 1200 WOAI, star-telegram.com, Guardian UK, Dallas Morning News