Civil rights groups sue over rent law

Two civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new law in a Dallas suburb that outlaws renting apartments to illegal immigrants, alleging the ordinance violates federal law and forces landlords to act as immigration officers.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed the suit on behalf of residents and landlords in Farmers Branch, just north of Dallas. It is the third lawsuit brought against the city since the ordinance passed in November.

Plaintiffs include two landlords as well as legal Latino residents and U.S. citizen children who fear the ordinance will force them to separate from relatives or leave their homes, the suit said.

The lawsuit claims the measure, scheduled to take effect Jan. 12, is so poorly drafted that it would allow exclusion of even legal immigrants and citizens from renting. It would mean everyone must carry a birth certificate or a passport, said Marti Garza, program director of the ACLU of Texas.

Attorneys who filed the suit say they believe the ordinance also is flawed because it attempts to regulate immigration.

"Immigration enforcement must be left to the federal government, not each local municipality," said Lisa Graybill, legal director of the ACLU of Texas. "Otherwise Texas will end up with a patchwork system that is impractical and unenforceable."

Farmers Branch spokesman Tom Bryson said the city will not comment on pending litigation. City Councilman Tim O'Hare, who led the effort to pass the ordinance, said the city is prepared to fight the legal challenges.

"What I think most Americans believe is if you get sued by the ACLU, you must be doing something right," O'Hare said.

On Friday, the owners of three apartment complexes filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to declare the rent law unconstitutional. In another lawsuit filed earlier this month, a Farmers Branch resident alleged that the mayor repeatedly violated the state's open meetings laws to deliberate the ordinances.

The new law calls for property managers or owners to verify the immigration or citizenship status of apartment renters. Landlords who violate the rule face a misdemeanor charge punishable by a fine of up to $500. The City Council also approved resolutions making English the city's official language and allowing authorities to become part of a federal program so they can enforce immigration laws.

Since 1970, Farmers Branch has changed from a small, predominantly white bedroom community with a declining population to a city of almost 28,000 people, about 37 percent of them Hispanic, according to the census.

More than 50 municipalities nationwide have considered, passed or rejected similar laws, but until now that trend hadn't been duplicated in Texas.

Judges in California and Pennsylvania have kept similar ordinances from taking effect there.