Calif. City’s Immigrant Housing Law Dead
|
|
The city of Escondido said it won’t enforce a law that punishes landlords for renting to illegal immigrants, killing a measure that many communities nationwide also have considered in an effort to crack down on undocumented workers. In a closed session Wednesday night, the Escondido city council decided to enter an agreement that ends all litigation in the matter and keeps the city from enforcing the ordinance. Last month, a federal judge temporarily blocked the city from enforcing the law. U.S. District Judge John Houston said he had serious questions about whether the law would survive legal scrutiny and that it might inflict “irreparable harm” on tenants and landlords in the suburb 30 miles north of San Diego, where Hispanics make up 42 percent of the 142,000 residents. The settlement still must be approved by the judge. The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups had sued the city on behalf of two Escondido landlords and two women who live in the country illegally but whose children are U.S. citizens and attend school in the city. “I’m glad the city came to its senses and settled this case,” landlord Roy Garrett said in a statement released by the ACLU. More : foxnews.com |