Some local Dallas news

Many of you who read this blog do not live in the Dallas area so I thought it would be fine for me to detail one of the main issues we have been dealing with down here (or up here depending on local).

Basically the Dallas area is broken up into many small cities and suburbs, one of those being Farmers Branch. Farmers Branch has a reputation around the metroplex as being the place where illegal mexicans can live with little hassle. Well that all changed a few months ago when city officials proposed a law that would require all landlords to prove that there tenants are legal residents. So on Jan. 12, Friday, landlords are supposed to go door to door and check for citizenship. If it is not provided the landlord has to serve you with an eviction notice or the landlord will get in trouble for "harboring illegal aliens." Of course the landlords don't want to take this lying down so many have sued claiming this law turns them into immigration officers and because it violates the Supremacy Clause. Also the ACLU & MALDEF have also sued.

I of course have my own opinions on the matter which I will keep quiet about. Although I will say that a person must follow the proper procedure when trying to move to another country. Mexicans are so vocal about how bad it is in Mexico without any thought that many other countries have it much worse. Lets also look at how Mexico treats Americans and other immigrants:

• Immigrants and foreign visitors are banned from public political discourse.

We have many hispanic individuals in government and if we had this law they would have never had that opportunity.

• Immigrants and foreigners are denied certain basic property rights.

So even if you buy a home in Mexico you don't really even own it.

• Immigrants are denied equal employment rights.

So you can't even get a job there.

• Immigrants and naturalized citizens may never become members of the clergy.

How wrong is it to ban immigrants from church duties.

• Immigrants may be expelled from Mexico for any reason and without due process.

So they can kick us out of there country even if we are legal citizens but if they are in our country illegally we can't even kick them out.

There are some others but they aren't as dramatic and it goes without saying that America does not inforce any rules like this towards its immigrants (you can't be president here unless born in America). So looking at it like that it seems that hispanic citizens want us to treat them better then they treat us.

Another point in this argument is that illegals will just move to another city. Common sense dictates that if they are kicked out of Farmers Branch they are not going back to Mexico, they will instead just move into the closest city around (Carrollton, Plano, Dallas, Coppell) and so other cities have started to voice there opinion on the matter. Carrollton specifically has an election today to pick a new city council member and the voting choice has come down to one thing, for or against what Farmers Branch is doing. I think it is an important issue and am voting for the candidate who wants to do the same to Carrollton. I am not racist and actually do think what they are doing is kind of wrong, but I also do not want the city I live in to deal with the crippling effects of such a change (Dallas is still trying to cope with all the Katrina evacuees).

So after all that, how do you think I should vote? And do you think the city of Farmers Branch is doing the right thing? Whatever you feel I know it will be a very interesting Friday and something I will remain very interested in since this is the first time any city has tried something like this and if it is successful other cities might follow suit.

P.S. - America got itself into this problem and is now trying to blame the Hispanic community when the US immigration laws are really at fault.