RangerRick
11-13-2006, 01:46 PM
Council members hoping to vote Monday on city's proposed crackdown
08:50 AM CST on Sunday, November 12, 2006
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/carrollton/stories/DN-fbimmigration_12met.ART.North.Edition1.3e4e470.htm l
By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News
Farmers Branch City Council members hope to put the illegal immigration issue in their city to rest Monday.
Council member Tim O'Hare said he hopes the City Council will vote on whether to make English the city's official language, enroll police officers in a federal training program that will essentially make them immigration officials, and enact an ordinance to prohibit landlords from renting to illegal immigrants.
A proposal to penalize businesses that hire illegal immigrants, he said, probably won't be pursued because there is less support for it on the council.
"I'm certainly ready to vote on it," Mr. O'Hare said. "If we vote on it and things do not pass, then I can't tell you the thought will never come into my mind again. I would say next May during the [City Council] election it will become an issue again.
"If something fails, do I plan to keep requesting for it to come on? No. But until we vote on it, it won't go away."
The city attorney is expected to address the council Monday to recommend actions he thinks the city can take that will stand up in court.
Most of the council's discussion is expected to occur in closed session, because of the threat of lawsuits from several Hispanic and civil rights groups, including the League of United Latin American Citizens and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.
The state's open-meetings law allows governmental bodies to meet in private when seeking the advice of their attorneys regarding pending or contemplated litigation.
But City Council members can come out of that closed-door session and vote on anything they discussed there.
Mr. O'Hare said that he would like to see that debate occur in public, but that probably won't happen.
"They don't want to have a discussion," he said. "They don't want people to know how they feel or what they really think."
Avoiding court
Council member Ben Robinson said he understands the need to debate behind closed doors. He and others have said they want to do something to make the city less attractive to illegal immigrants but don't want to get caught in a protracted court battle.
"Any time there is legalities involved, you have to operate in that manner," said Mr. Robinson, who stepped into the immigration debate by proposing the city prohibit the congregation of day laborers. He has also suggested that police officers who question the authenticity of the residency papers of people they encounter make copies of the papers and turn them over to immigration authorities for investigation.
He asked specifically that the city attorney have something the council can vote on.
"I would like to see this whole issue concluded," he said.
Mayor Bob Phelps agreed, saying he's tired of debating the issue.
"Everybody is, except the ones who keep stirring it," said Mr. Phelps, whose home was vandalized this month when someone spray-painted "Viva Mexicos" on his house. "I hope it will go away if we have a vote."
Other cities
Mr. O'Hare put Farmers Branch in the national spotlight in August by suggesting that illegal immigrants are a driving factor in the decline of the city's neighborhoods, and by proposing that the city emulate actions being taken elsewhere, most notably in Hazelton, Pa.
08:50 AM CST on Sunday, November 12, 2006
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/carrollton/stories/DN-fbimmigration_12met.ART.North.Edition1.3e4e470.htm l
By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News
Farmers Branch City Council members hope to put the illegal immigration issue in their city to rest Monday.
Council member Tim O'Hare said he hopes the City Council will vote on whether to make English the city's official language, enroll police officers in a federal training program that will essentially make them immigration officials, and enact an ordinance to prohibit landlords from renting to illegal immigrants.
A proposal to penalize businesses that hire illegal immigrants, he said, probably won't be pursued because there is less support for it on the council.
"I'm certainly ready to vote on it," Mr. O'Hare said. "If we vote on it and things do not pass, then I can't tell you the thought will never come into my mind again. I would say next May during the [City Council] election it will become an issue again.
"If something fails, do I plan to keep requesting for it to come on? No. But until we vote on it, it won't go away."
The city attorney is expected to address the council Monday to recommend actions he thinks the city can take that will stand up in court.
Most of the council's discussion is expected to occur in closed session, because of the threat of lawsuits from several Hispanic and civil rights groups, including the League of United Latin American Citizens and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.
The state's open-meetings law allows governmental bodies to meet in private when seeking the advice of their attorneys regarding pending or contemplated litigation.
But City Council members can come out of that closed-door session and vote on anything they discussed there.
Mr. O'Hare said that he would like to see that debate occur in public, but that probably won't happen.
"They don't want to have a discussion," he said. "They don't want people to know how they feel or what they really think."
Avoiding court
Council member Ben Robinson said he understands the need to debate behind closed doors. He and others have said they want to do something to make the city less attractive to illegal immigrants but don't want to get caught in a protracted court battle.
"Any time there is legalities involved, you have to operate in that manner," said Mr. Robinson, who stepped into the immigration debate by proposing the city prohibit the congregation of day laborers. He has also suggested that police officers who question the authenticity of the residency papers of people they encounter make copies of the papers and turn them over to immigration authorities for investigation.
He asked specifically that the city attorney have something the council can vote on.
"I would like to see this whole issue concluded," he said.
Mayor Bob Phelps agreed, saying he's tired of debating the issue.
"Everybody is, except the ones who keep stirring it," said Mr. Phelps, whose home was vandalized this month when someone spray-painted "Viva Mexicos" on his house. "I hope it will go away if we have a vote."
Other cities
Mr. O'Hare put Farmers Branch in the national spotlight in August by suggesting that illegal immigrants are a driving factor in the decline of the city's neighborhoods, and by proposing that the city emulate actions being taken elsewhere, most notably in Hazelton, Pa.