Rental law dropped, but not the goal

By J. Harry Jones
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

December 15, 2006

ESCONDIDO – The ordinance may be dead, but the fight against illegal immigration in the city will go on, three members of the City Council said yesterday.

And it's possible that a new ordinance will be crafted once the city has figured out how to gain access to a federal list so it can determine who is living in the country legally and who isn't, Councilman Sam Abed said.

In the meantime, the city will pursue other solutions, such as increased enforcement of city codes, council members said.

In the end, the failed attempt to do something about illegal immigrants – who proponents of the ordinance said cause overcrowding, crime and the drain on social services – ended up costing Escondido about $200,000 in legal fees.

That's probably millions less than if the council had decided to fight a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups challenging the ordinance, which would have punished landlords for renting to undocumented immigrants.