Escondido, CA: Law stops renting to illegal immigrants

[DeltAlum]

Since Hispanics are our biggest miniroty, whether this is aimed at them or not, it will have a bigger overall effect on them as a group.

If enforced fairly, though, it will affect any undocumented person.

I guess the way I look at the whole situation is that "illegal" means just that and laws should be enforced. If a law is unfair (any law), get it changed. I know that's not easy, but the option is the kind of chaos that is present in our immigration system today.

People who are going through the process of attaining citizenship or getting the prescribed documents to live and/or work here are not "illegal," only the sometimes victims of what may be a difficult system.

[AlexMack]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

Since Hispanics are our biggest miniroty, whether this is aimed at them or not, it will have a bigger overall effect on them as a group.

If enforced fairly, though, it will affect any undocumented person.

I guess the way I look at the whole situation is that "illegal" means just that and laws should be enforced. If a law is unfair (any law), get it changed. I know that's not easy, but the option is the kind of chaos that is present in our immigration system today.

People who are going through the process of attaining citizenship or getting the prescribed documents to live and/or work here are not "illegal," only the sometimes victims of what may be a difficult system.

It really does make me sad that a lot of illegal immigrants move here to better their life, and they really try. It's easy to say 'send them all back!' when you don't know what they'd be going back to.
The illegals that piss me off are the ones who don't work, who take advantage of the system and basically churn out babies while draining the government.
I'm legal and it's still really hard to get my citizenship. I'm aiming to get it before 2008 so I can help vote this administration out.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by centaur532

I'm aiming to get it before 2008 so I can help vote this administration out.

This administration will be out in January 2009 regardless of the 2008 election.

[AlexMack]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

This administration will be out in January 2009 regardless of the 2008 election.

I misworded my post. What I meant was, so that I vote in someone who had NOTHING in common with this administration. Different policies etc.

[tunatartare]

Originally Posted by centaur532

I'm legal and it's still really hard to get my citizenship. I'm aiming to get it before 2008 so I can help vote this administration out.

My parents got lucky when they got theirs because it was a major election year so they expedited everyone's oaperwork so that they could all become citizens and register to vote.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by centaur532

It really does make me sad that a lot of illegal immigrants move here to better their life, and they really try. It's easy to say 'send them all back!' when you don't know what they'd be going back to.

This is true, but "SEND THEM BACK THEY TOOK ERR JUBS DERB" isn't really the issue - it's really more that enforcement of immigration laws is incredibly difficult, and so 'alternate' methods like housing regulations, etc are about the only way to make any changes short of blowing up the entire system (which I would be in favor of, but slow change is probably the better motif here).

[_Opi_]

"Councilman Sam Abed, who supported the measure, said it will improve the city's image and reputation, "and certainly our quality of life.""

This statement really bothered me. I thought they were taking a firm stance against Illegal immigrants because they are here illegally.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by centaur532

It really does make me sad that a lot of illegal immigrants move here to better their life, and they really try. It's easy to say 'send them all back!' when you don't know what they'd be going back to.
The illegals that piss me off are the ones who don't work, who take advantage of the system and basically churn out babies while draining the government.
I'm legal and it's still really hard to get my citizenship. I'm aiming to get it before 2008 so I can help vote this administration out.

Too bad. Their problems are not my problems. Well.. they're not my problems until these people move here seeking a better life, a welfare check, free medical care, clogging our criminal justice system, etc.

An illegal alien is an illegal alien. If they're so much as driving on my state's roads without paying the appropriate taxes, they are creating more problems than they're solving. Cheap labor is not that huge of a benefit considering what it costs society in the long run.

[_Opi_]

Originally Posted by Kevin

An illegal alien is an illegal alien. If they're so much as driving on my state's roads without paying the appropriate taxes, they are creating more problems than they're solving.

I wonder if the Native Americans felt this way when the illegal "aliens" came, robbed them of their land, cleansed them out, and forced the rest into reservation [camps]. hmmmm.

I digress.

[valkyrie]

Can anybody provide a compelling reason why landlords should have a role in enforcing U.S. immigration laws? RC kind of touched on this, but I'm not convinced. Isn't this a case of the government being too lazy/incompetent to do its job and enforce its laws -- or, in the alternative, a futile attempt to do the impossible?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by valkyrie

Can anybody provide a compelling reason why landlords should have a role in enforcing U.S. immigration laws? RC kind of touched on this, but I'm not convinced. Isn't this a case of the government being too lazy/incompetent to do its job and enforce its laws -- or, in the alternative, a futile attempt to do the impossible?

Maybe it arises out of a duty not to assist someone in committing an illegal act?

I just made that up, but it sounds good to me.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Maybe it arises out of a duty not to assist someone in committing an illegal act?

I just made that up, but it sounds good to me.

There are many laws that the gov't can't enforce without citizens' assistance.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by valkyrie

Can anybody provide a compelling reason why landlords should have a role in enforcing U.S. immigration laws? RC kind of touched on this, but I'm not convinced. Isn't this a case of the government being too lazy/incompetent to do its job and enforce its laws -- or, in the alternative, a futile attempt to do the impossible?

I also wonder how far they are taking the liability on this. If they're asking for ID cards, etc as proof of legal status, many illegals have pretty dang convincing fakes.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by valkyrie

Can anybody provide a compelling reason why landlords should have a role in enforcing U.S. immigration laws? RC kind of touched on this, but I'm not convinced. Isn't this a case of the government being too lazy/incompetent to do its job and enforce its laws -- or, in the alternative, a futile attempt to do the impossible?

Meh, I think you're misstating your terms here . . . we could just as easily parse this as "Can anyone provide a compelling reason why teachers should have a role in enforcing child abuse laws?" due to their mandatory reporter status - or we could flip the phrasing, and say that landlords are now charged with ensuring their dollars are coming from a legitimate, legal source, upholding the law of the land w/re: their own income.

It's a fine line, and ultimately the semantic argument doesn't hold much water - the reality of the situation is that modern immigration reform, which essentially requires 'band-aids' over existing gaps, probably means removing easy supply-side enabling of aliens. Landlords who rent to illegals are certainly enablers, although not on the same level as, say, employers.

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

I also wonder how far they are taking the liability on this. If they're asking for ID cards, etc as proof of legal status, many illegals have pretty dang convincing fakes.

I just wanted to note this - this is simultaneously the biggest reason for and against what I've discussed above. Faking documentation always has happened and always will - that's another area to attack, but it definitely means that checking more stringently in other areas for things like doubled SSN/etc. can only serve to actively attempt to seek out aliens.

[SoCalGirl]

Public school teachers are government employees...so I have no issue with requiring them to help enforce laws.