Not welcome here
Jun 14th 2007 | FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS
Taking matters into their own hands
A FEW years ago, Tim O'Hare noticed something strange in his personal-injury practice. Every day, he says, people called in complaining that they had been “hit by somebody that can't speak English and has no auto insurance”. He concluded that this was the result of illegal immigration in Farmers Branch, a slightly scuffed-looking suburb of Dallas. He also thought that property values were not appreciating fast enough and the school district had declined.
So Mr O'Hare, a member of the Farmers Branch City Council, decided to act. He brought in an ordinance requiring landlords to verify that prospective tenants were American citizens or legal residents. If not, the landlords could be fined up to $500 per tenant per day.
The ordinance was criticised as racist and impractical. Landlords are not really in a position to establish the legal standing of their tenants and might just discriminate against Hispanics rather than risk being fined. But the ordinance was popular. Last month more than two-thirds of voters backed it in a ballot. And immigration opponents did not stop there. The mayor of Farmers Branch, who opposed the ordinance, had his house vandalised twice.
Texas courts quickly issued a restraining order against the city to prevent the ordinance from taking effect. Mr O'Hare says he will take the issue to the federal Supreme Court, if necessary. Farmers Branch is not alone. Last year, the small town of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, enacted a similar ordinance only to run into legal trouble. Other anti-immigration measures have sparked protests in places such as Avon Park, Florida.
Some individual Americans are taking their own stands against illegal immigration as well. “Minutemen” are self-appointed people who have taken it upon themselves to help the authorities police the country's borders. And a cheesesteak salesman in Philadelphia came under fire last year when he posted a sign telling his customers that they had to speak English.
economist.com
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