Farmers Branch, TX, a fashionable northern suburb of Dallas, has enacted an ordinance that would ban illegal immigrants from renting or owning housing.
Now, don’t get me wrong: I do not support illegal immigration in any way shape or form, and I furthermore believe that laws currently on the books should be used to prosecute the employers who exploit them in low-wage, lousy-hours jobs with poor working conditions rather than pay up (and improve working conditions where possible) for a legal, American worker. I also believe that there should be a clear and obvious (even if it’s not easy) path to being a legal worker and eventually a citizen for those who want it.
However, I think the Farmers Branch ordinance is wrong-headed and very possibly in violation of federal law.
First, what about investors? It is not at all unusual for people from foreign countries to invest in housing in the United States without a visa or any intent to live here whatsoever. This is even more true when currencies are trading at current levels that make American assets relatively “cheap.” Are they really saying that foreign investors have to get a visa before buying a rent house?
Second, there is the possibility that Jane Average Apartment Manager — most on-site management in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is done by women — may apply the rules for checking current and correct citizenship and immigration status unevenly. It is not as simple as checking a drivers license, and may be particularly difficult in Texas, where they have had a large influx of Katrina refugees, whose birth certificates and other documents may no longer exist. Is she required to check the heads of household for legal status, or everyone who will be living on property? Even if she does try to check, will she really collect such information on every resident, or only ones with Hispanic surnames? That’s a discrimination lawsuit just waiting to happen. And who will be checking the legal status of purchasers of property? Realtors, title officers, mortgage officers? To whom will it be reported?
Third, finally, and most importantly, Federal Fair Housing Law says it is not legal to refuse to sell or rent to someone “based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap….” If refusing to rent to someone because they are not citizens of the United States is not based on “national origin,” then I am Princess Anastasia. So Jane Average Apartment Manager is caught in the middle: she can either follow the local law and face federal fines, or follow federal law and face local fines.
My guess is Jane will be eyeing jobs in nearby Garland and Plano.
cross-posted at BridgetMagnus.com