Fifth Circuit Upholds Judge Boyle’s Invalidation of Farmers Branch’s Ordinance Prohibiting Illegal Immigrants From Renting Housing

On July 22, 2013, the Fifth Circuit released its opinion in Villas at Parkside Partners v. City of Farmers Branch, No. 10–10751, 2013 WL 3791664 (5th Cir. 2013) (en banc). Farmers Branch’s Ordinance was

passed by the active citizens of the City of Farmers Branch (“Farmers Branch”) [and] seeks to regulate non-citizens who reside in the United States contrary to law. Farmers Branch, Tex., Ordinance 2952 (Jan. 22, 2008), permanently enjoined by Villas at Parkside Partners v. City of Farmers Branch, Tex., 701 F. Supp. 2d 835, 881 (N.D. Tex. 2010). Farmers Branch classifies these non-citizens as persons “not lawfully present in the United States.” Id. at §§ 1(D)(2); 3(D)(2). Responding to an “aroused popular consciousness,” Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 270 (1962) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting), and frustration at the perceived lack of federal enforcement of immigration law, Farmers Branch sought to “prevent” such persons from renting housing in the city.

The Fifth Circuit ultimately held that the Ordinance’s criminal offense and penalty provisions and its state judicial review process conflict with federal law, and accordingly upheld Judge Boyle’s invalidation of the Ordinance.

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