California Blocks Local Immigration Ordinance
Posted: October 18th, 2007 | Author: admin | Filed under: Americas | 3 Comments »A new California state law prevents local governments from enacting laws that punish landlords who rent to foreign nationals unlawfully in the United States.
In the US, a number of cities have enacted laws that required landlords to ask tenants for proof of lawful immigration status or be subject to various penalties. California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger signed into law a California statute to prevent such behavior in the state of California. Such local ordinances have been criticized as leading to discrimination and such ordinances have been struck down in federal court as unconstitutional. In some cases, these ordinances have been repealed as too expensive to defend in court.
See Calif.: Landlords can't ask immigration status, Associated Press, October 15, 2007, for more information.
I agree that it is the place of the state and federal governments, not local, to deal with immigration issues. There is too much temptation for unreasonable discrimination and selective enforcement at teh local level
too “Tee Oh Oh” too many, too much – too is spelled with 2 o’s
Jay: Thank you for catching the typo. You are too nice!
Ryan: You might be interested in the federal court decision discussed at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/12/federal-judge-upholds-arizona.php . This involves the new Arizona state law revoking business licenses to employers who violate immigration laws.