Supreme Court Refuses Appeal To Revive Anti-Immigrant Renting And Hiring Laws

The Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear appeals on lower-court decisions striking down two local ordinances passed in the cities of Hazelton, Pa. and Farmers Branch, Texas which prohibited employers from hiring those unauthorized to work in the US and landlords from renting housing to those not in the country legally. The Christian Science Monitor notes that both appeals were presented by Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach, a longtime anti-illegal immigration activist who drafted Arizona’s infamously harsh SB 1070 -- struck down in June 2012 by the Supreme Court – and its Alabama counterpart.

The Dallas Morning News writes that the law in Farmers Branch, a Dallas suburb of 29,000, passed in 2007, when residents voted for it 2-to-1. The ordinance mandated tenants to prove their legal status in the US in order to obtain a license to occupy a residence, while building inspectors would have had to verify the immigration status of tenants with the federal government, or face misdemeanor charges. The Associated Press notes that the town’s city council spent more than $6 million over the course of eight years on legal efforts related to immigration.

The Hazleton law, passed in 2006 amid an influx of immigrants, sought to impose a fine on landlords who rented to undocumented immigrants and required renters to register for a permit with City Hall, which would then check the individual’s immigration status. It would also deny licenses to businesses who hired them. Then-mayor Lou Barletta, now a representative in Congress, had spearheaded the measure after two undocumented immigrants were charged in shooting deaths. Foster Maer, one of the counsels who fought the law and attorney with Latino Justice PRLDEF, said in a statement following the Supreme Court decision that “Hazleton's Latino community, the target of Hazleton's anti-immigrant ordinances, can finally breathe a sigh of relief after 7 years.”

He added, “The town can no longer target them for harassment and expulsion. Though Latinos across the country can also feel heartened that their towns can no longer take similar acts against them, they now must remain on guard as anti-immigrant forces will come up with new ways to try to drive them out."