While prospects for immigration reform this year seem uncertain, Arizona's leaders aren't the only ones who have decided to take immigration matters -- largely on the "anti" side -- into their own hands. A Dallas suburb is defending an ordinance preventing illegal immigrants from renting. A similar ordinance was struck down by a federal judge, and now the city is appealing the ruling to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The city says the rule is part of an effort to "improve" the downtown area. But the ordinance is especially ridiculous given how much money the town is spending to defend a rule that would leave a large population homeless:
So far, the city has spent about $3.2 million on legal fees for illegal-immigration matters -- from researching proposed ordinances to fighting lawsuits from residents seeking single-member council districts or alleging Open Meetings Act violations. This appeal might add $150,000 to the total, O'Hare said.
In some sense, this is what happens when national leadership dithers on immigration reform, then comes out with a problematic plan. Though, these communities (there's a Pennsylvania town defending an ordinance similar to the one in Texas) are still likely to be at odds with whatever the federal government says, particularly if it doesn't embrace xenophobia outright.
What's interesting is that these same far-right advocates are preaching about liberty after the government passed a health-care reform bill with an individual mandate. The Texas and Arizona laws are much more intrusive in the lives of the people they affect than health-care reform is. As Jamelle Bouie says, it's apparently not about freedom when it happens to nonwhites.
-- Monica Potts
