Reporting Austin York
FARMERS BRANCH (1080 KRLD) – A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling stopping Farmers Branch’s ban on illegal immigrants seeking housing.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the ordinance passed by the city overstepped its authority.
The 2008 law called on the city’s building inspector to check the immigration status of anyone wanting to rent an apartment who wasn’t a U.S. citizen.
Illegal immigrants could be barred from rental housing, and landlords who knowingly allowed them to stay could have their rental licenses barred.
A federal judge barred Farmers Branch from enforcing the law. Farmers Branch mayor Bill Glancy – who was not sitting mayor when the city encated the law –– told KRLD after the ruling that he hasn’t decided whether to push for an appeal.
He does, however, support the law.
It’s to “try to get people into the citizenship process in this country so that they can fully participate in the American opportunity,” he said. “I never heard anyone say they came here for a handout, I hear that they came here for an opportunity.”
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