ACLU sues county over illegals-housing ordinance

ACLU sues county over illegals-housing ordinance
'These laws place a wedge in our communities, pitting neighbor against neighbor'

Suburban Atlanta county to delay enforcing landlord ordinance

ATLANTA - A suburban Atlanta county has agreed to temporarily block a new ordinance that bans landlords from renting to illegal immigrants, after activists launched a legal attack against it.

Cherokee County has entered a consent order to delay enacting the ordinance until challenges of similar laws in Hazleton, Pa., and the St. Louis suburb of Valley Park, Mo., are resolved, lawyers said Friday. The new measure had been set to take effect Jan. 1.

The immigrant groups filed a federal lawsuit challenging the ordinance on Thursday, claiming it would prompt landlords to deny housing based on race and ethnicity.

"These laws place a wedge in our communities, pitting neighbor against neighbor," said Gerry Weber, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, one of several groups that filed the complaint.

Cherokee County lawmakers had hinted they were having second thoughts about the ordinance, particularly after officials in Escondido, Calif., recently abandoned a similar law and pay $90,000 to lawyers representing civil rights groups who sued the city.

"When you see the costs that were incurred in California as they walked away, that's an indication how expensive this can be in a very short time," said Leavitt "Buzz" Ahrens, the county commission's new chairman.

Ahrens called the consent order a "fair outcome" because it also bars the activist groups from filing more litigation against the county until the other cases are resolved.

"We're not jumping to any conclusions," he said. "It allows us to gather it all in, all these decisions."

The activists' lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta on behalf of seven anonymous residents and the owner of a mobile home park in Cherokee County, which is about 40 miles north of Atlanta.

Weber said the provisions of the new law essentially force landlords to become "government investigators."

The ordinance would require landlords to verify whether their tenants are in the country legally and provide that information to county officials on demand.

Those found to be renting to illegal immigrants would have five days to evict them or risk losing business licenses. The ordinance also would prevent landlords from collecting rent from illegal immigrants.