Critics say such laws

Critics say such laws are unconstitutional, that they discriminate against Hispanics, and that they place an undue burden on landlords to act as federal immigration enforcement agents. What’s more, the new ordinance in Farmers Branch is likely to exact “an extraordinarily high financial and social cost to the community and its future generations,” including millions of dollars in legal fees, wrote two University of North Texas professors in a report commissioned by the opposition group Let the Voters Decide.On the other side, proponents say the laws are a necessary response to the strain illegal immigrants put on city services. Personal injury attorney and Farmers Branch native Tim O’Hare —a relative newcomer as a city councilman—first raised the issue last August. The city had to do something about illegal immigration, he said, because his constituents were complaining about crime, overcrowding, and a strain on schools, police and hospitals. Another councilman, Ben Robinson, agreed and proposed that all foreign language materials be removed from the city library. After the city council unanimously voted in the apartment ban, opponents petitioned for the citywide vote.Robinson had moved to Farmers Branch in 1968 back when it was a nearly all-white community on the edge of the prairie. Now, this city is nearly 40 percent Hispanic, according to the 2000 census. Over the years, “we’ve seen lots of changes. And what’s happened is we’ve sat on our duffs and we’ve been invaded by some folks that shouldn’t be here,” Robinson says. For a look at what’s gone wrong in Farmers Branch, Robinson points to the dilapidated shopping center in what could loosely be called downtown Farmers Branch. A vast, mostly vacant parking lot fronts a shuttered grocery store. The small shops nearby include a storefront Hispanic church, a dollar store, and a Guatemalan bakery. This area called the Four Corners is at the crossroads of Farmers Branch’s future. “We’re trying to revitalize this city,” says Robinson.Though many of the initial fears about how illegal immigrants were harming Farmers Branch have turned out to be unfounded—crime is down, property values are up, and the schools are good, there’s a strong perception among many that illegal immigrants are a problem. “I don’t think nothing against the Mexican people,” says Jerry Johnson, a 70-year-old retiree. “It’s just they’ve ruined this city, nearly.” Jean Donley, 78, said she wavered back and forth but finally decided to vote for the new law restricting illegal immigrants. “They’re coming in the wrong way. If they want to come the right way then they’re welcome,” she said.Mayor Phelps had to ask police to clear council chambers when a town hall meeting erupted into a shouting match. Local business owner Elizabeth Villafranca says a city inspector forced her husband to remove a “Vote Against Ordinance 2903” sign adorning the chest of a 25-foot inflatable eagle that they installed on the roof of their restaurant, Cuquita’s. She was nearly arrested on an accusation, spurious she says, of stealing dozens of yard signs.On Election Day, Travis Carter and other volunteers with the opposition group Let the Voters Decide went door to door rousting voters until 15 minutes before the polls closed. Amid record turnout, 68 percent of voters approved Ordinance 2903. Now, both sides are vowing to take it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. “People are frustrated and they’re afraid,” Carter says. “They’re frustrated with the lack of activity in Washington, and now they’re resorting to their own brand of immigration reform and policy,” he said.