Farmers Branch: Immigration is a Federal Issue?

Not surprisingly, the Illegal Immigration Ordinance passed by the city of Farmers Branch in the May elections has been blocked by a federal court. Now it is a race of time to see who comes out on top in defending the United States against illegal immigrants: the federal government or cities like Farmers Branch who are willing to do the dirty work on their own.

The citizens of Farmers Branch voted to keep ordinance 2903, which will require landlords to verify the citizenship of their tenants. The ordinance passed with 68% of the vote, making Farmers Branch the first city in Texas to take such an action on illegal immigration. Supporters of the ordinance viewed its passing as a positive step, as a reaction to the Federal government’s lack of response to the immigration problem.

The federal government is working on that, they swear.

Councilman Tim O’Hare and newly elected councilmen David Koch and Tim Scott are expected to work on similar ordinances for the future. They’re also spreading the word. In March, Tim O’Hare spoke with a group of Republicans in Irving, Texas about fighting illegal immigration on a local level.

In the ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay said that Ordinance 2903 “conflicts with federal law,” and while he recognizes the citizen’s stance on the issue, “only the federal government may determine whether an individual is legally in the United States.”

The Senate is still debating the issue, but really, they’re working on it. Meanwhile, other cities across the country are using the election results in Farmers Branch as evidence that more action needs to be taken by individual cities, rather than leaving reform up to the federal government.

The ordinance will most likely be caught up in the court systems for the next few years, and the city of Farmers Branch will have to wait to find out if it can enforce the new law. This might give the federal government just enough time to reform and enforce immigration law. In the meantime, I am terrified for the immigrants (both legal and illegal) of the United States. While we’re all aware that it may be a long time before we see Congress’ imperfect resolution for immigration reform, the last people we need enforcing immigration law in Farmers Branch are the types of people who vandalize homes and use the term “illegals” seriously.