Calif. city bars illegal immigrants from renting

Local authorities in Escondido, California passed a controversial measure on Wednesday to prohibit landlords from renting to illegal immigrants, a law which opponents say is racist.

The city is the latest of several from California to Pennsylvania which have passed laws in recent months to deny access to housing or jobs to illegal immigrants in their communities.

The ordinance requires landlords to hand over documentation on their tenants’ immigration status to city authorities and evict illegal immigrant tenants or face penalties including suspension of their business licenses and fines.



  1. Max says:

    Good.

  2. moss says:

    If the Feds and both maundering opportunist political parties won’t enforce federal law — citizens will act through local and state government. Not that we won’t have to overcome the same hacks who think the potential of new and beholden voters is more appealing than protecting the jobs of citizens.

  3. John Urho Kemp says:

    Oh my god…that’s so unfair!

    Um…wait a minute. These people aren’t citizens? They got here illegally? Um…sorry, but what’s the fucking problem here? I didn’t know you used to be able to rent an apartment if you were illegal. Thought that was one of the pit-falls if you wanted to enter the country illegally. Just one of the things you had to deal with.

  4. xwing says:

    Now, if just every city will do that…oh and make it illegal to hire them as well, then we might actually have a solution to the problem. It’s not racist. They are here ILLEGALLY!!!! And, the people who hire them for well below average wages are breaking the law as well! It’s simple. If you want to live here or work here, get a visa and pay taxes like everyone else! I’m tired of my taxes paying for illegals health care and schooling their kids.

  5. Bryan says:

    It’s not even the paying for health care, it’s the long lines in the emergency room every time something happens. Since they don’t have a real doctor to see , they goto the ER for a stomach ache.

    Oh, and guess how much people have to pay for translators. The hospitals that don’t have one — try like $4 a minute. The costs add up — I could go on for days about the healthcare system in this country.

  6. The Other Tom says:

    How is this racist? The laws say the ILLEGAL immigrants can’t rent, right? If it said that mexicans or blacks or indonesian-americans couldn’t rent, okay, thats racist. Even though it is obviously pointed at mexican aliens, thats because that group is by far the highest amount of illegal immigrants. Seem simple to me.

    I still don’t understand why there aren’t laws saying that if illegal immigrants are found in the country, they aren’t immediately detained and deported as soon as possible.

    In the Declaration of Independence, it says that all men have certain unalienable rights. The rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If you are an illegal immigrant, you still have these rights, you just can’t exercise them here.

  7. Named says:

    The Other Tom,

    So, by your statement…
    In the Declaration of Independence, it says that all men have certain unalienable rights. The rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If you are an illegal immigrant, you still have these rights, you just can’t exercise them here.

    That was written for the whole world and not just the US? And your qualification at the end seems like a contradiction. But I might just be a stoopid foreigner.

  8. Tom 2 says:

    “Calif. city bars illegal immigrants from renting”, another one of the captain obvious headlines, just like police arrest a bank robber, ok ya they were supposed to do that. Want a cookie?

  9. 0113addiv says:

    Laws don’t stop people who are intent on doing something that they strongly believe in. Prostitution, drugs and murder are illegal but they are so pervasive in our culture that you have to laugh to think that laws are going to stop them. Sure, the law enforcers have to show statistics to substantiate their jobs, but that’s where pansies come in. Who is being locked up for drugs? The poor, that’s who. They are the disposable ones who are abused so that higher class drug addicts can stay free to abuse all that is “illegal”. Our government murdered 3,000 people on 9/11. So what? They get away with it, just blame the hapless. That’s the way it is.

  10. John says:

    How is this racist? If the law says something like “You can not rent to people in the U.S. illegally IF they ethnic heritage is xyz, but otherwise you can” then perhaps it is, but if it is blanket for all then it is not.
    Yes a majority of those here illegally have a common ethnic heritage, as it is easier to travel across a land boarder than an ocean, and those Canadians to the north have social-political-economic status that is similar to the US and thus no big drive, while the countries to the South typically are not as “well off” and thus have a drive to come here. But we also have illegals coming from many other places, just in smaller numbers, as it is not as easy to get here.

    If the law is racist then it would be saying the person from Mexico here legally and the one here illegally can not have an apartment An those decendend from people from there could also not rent. Then sure it could be seen as racist.
    The only way this can be seen as racist is if we now claim that criminals as a whole are a race, and if so prisons are racists since the majority in prison have broken the law, and thus would be of the criminal race.

  11. Tom 2 says:

    No, the bleeding hearts want everyone to think oh no its racist, no if the people have documents to prove they are legal then they can get an apartments, doesnt matter if your german, polish, french, canadian etc, if your not legal you cant be here simple as that, and if you feel sorry for the mexicans because they are the largest percentage of illigal immigrants in the country you are blind, And you should check out how the mexicans treat their illegal immigrants, and you might change you mind

  12. Smith says:

    So please explain to me why landlords are now responsible for enforcing immigration laws? As if getting rent from deadbeats isn’t hard enough, they now have to get papers? And must every renter supply papers or just Hispanics? And what about the third-generation US Hispanic, is he or she supposed submit proof of citizenship along with a cleaning deposit?

    God damn! How much longer will it be before we all have to show our papers upon demand?

  13. Mike says:

    If the government chooses to control how people cross our borders, that is fine, but ideally it should be nobody else’s business who I rent my property to.

  14. Mr. Fusion says:

    #8, Major Jerk

    Sorry, but that hasn’t been the case for a loooong time. It is illegal for you to NOT rent to specific people. Secondly, depending upon your location, you may not rent to those convicted of specific crimes.

    If you don’t want to pay taxes, then stay the hell off of the roads that the taxpayers put up the money for. Don’t bother calling a tax supported cop next time the illegals you rent to cause problems. And if they burn down your place, put it out yourself, it’s our taxes that pay for the fire department.

    What jerks like you don’t care about is that being a member of society has it’s costs as well as benifits.

  15. AB CD says:

    This is a terrible law. It doesn’t just affect illegals, it affects everyone who rents. Before signing for that apartment, you have to give your landlord a copy of your birth ceetificate and/or social security number. Many do the latter already for a credit check, but still.

  16. Thomas says:

    ABCD,

    Not necessarily. At least in CA, a driver’s license or ID card would suffice as both of those require proof of citizenship.

  17. Mr. Fusion says:

    #13, Smith & 14 Mike,

    Renting apartments has been controlled for a very long time. Every jurisdiction I know of has minimum requirements for housing rentals. It has also been standard practice that landlords will verify their tenants are capable of paying the rent. And I think this would apply to all renters or all nationalities.

    This is not a case that landlords are now responsible for enforcing immigration laws. It is a matter that, like any business, landlords must respect and obey the laws that control their business. It is already illegal to hire an illegal immigrant and, in certain places now, it is also illegal to rent housing to these same people.

  18. Mr. Fusion says:

    Correction in post 19, first paragraph, last sentence should read:

    And I think this would apply to all renters of all nationalities.

    Sorry, my glasses are dirty.

  19. volt says:

    Fusion old bean, the government is an illegal monopoly. None of us has a choice about driving on their ill-maintained roads, accepting their dubious fire protection, or being screwed around by their corrupt cops– at whatever price the monopoly figures it can get away with.

    Paying for government is not a cost of being a member of society. It’s the price extorted by the most invasive parasite on society.

  20. AB CD says:

    >This is not a case that landlords are now responsible for enforcing >immigration laws. It is a matter that, like any business, landlords must >respect and obey the laws that control their business.

    Say what? And I guess not giving too many drinks at bars has nothing to do with bars enforcing drunk driving laws. Or clubs should give out drug tests to people on the way in has nothing to do with clubs enforcing drug laws. They’re just obeying the laws that have been passed. Having to give ID, take off your shoes, etc. to get on a plane has nothing to do with airlines enforcing national security, the airlines are just following the (secret)law.

  21. Curt Fields says:

    #20 I’m suprised that you are still living where ther is a government. You should live wher there is none, Like the South Pole.

  22. gadlaw says:

    I blame the education system which has apparently failed so many of you. If only teachers actually made you listen and understand your Civics classes and made you actually pay attention when the constitution and government were explained to you. Legal immigrants are those people who have followed the process to come to the United States legally. Feel free to write this down if you need. Legislators, those people elected by those of you who bothered to vote, have written laws describing the numbers and quotas of people it decides the country could well use and who are allowed to come to the country. Fill out paperwork, wait to be interviewed, – you know a legal process. A legal process written into law by your representatives for the good of the country. Very easy to understand. Now, people who have gone around that process, coming across the national border of the United States, doing so with disregard for the law and procedure put in place by your government, are called illegals. They are illegally in the country. If those people happen to be coming from South America into Mexico we call those people dead people because the Mexicans shoot illegally entering people coming from South America.

    The reason why some business like illegal workers is because it allows them to outsource your jobs without moving their places of business. They don’t have to close the factory down and put a bunch of Americans out of work which is bad publicity when they can slowly lower wages and hire illegals and slowly put Americans out of work. It’s hard for farmers to pick up and move to Mexico since the fields are here so they cry loudest about Americans not wanting to work at below minimum wage but Mexicans don’t eat as much and don’t need nearly as much money right? If they need medical care or schooling or any of that the taxpayer will pay for it- that’s you. Big business, farmers and construction happily hide behind the idiot liberals who see it as a ‘human rights’ issue. You know, poor people gotta eat too. I mean, if you don’t have compassion for poor people who risk their lives for a better life then you must be some kind of evil person yourself. Those people who say that are happy again to let you, the taxpayer, pay for these poor people who risk everything and come here illegally. I feel sorry for those people so I’ll just reach into your pocket and give your money to those folks. That’s what’s happening. Of course, for a dollar a day you could give your own money to Christian Children’s Fund and actually help someone. You could also give money to other charities or even start your own charities to go to poor Mexican villages and help them dig wells and start businesses and do good that way. I mean, you know, if you don’t feel like helping poor black children and poor black neighborhoods in the US.

    And then we’re back to your representatives passing laws to try to do something about illegals in their communities. It’s a quality of life issue, it’s a safety issue, it’s doing something about something that is not legal. Housing is one of the places where illegals can be found. Your representatives passing laws to make it difficult for illegals to find housing is one more tool to try to stem the tide. Sanctions and jail time for those who hire illegals as well as better border control are things that need to be done to stop illegal immigration. There is no right to do something that is illegal. It’s really as simple as that. If you having difficulty wrapping around that fact then you know, blame your teachers for not teaching you.

  23. neozeed says:

    speaking as a legal immigrant, Im simply amazed that people that cheat the system get away with so much! Not to mention there are *SO* many of them.

    I mean sometimes I feel like I was a fool to pay out all that money for a greencard (immigration lawyers! ugh. nothing like landsharks), when it seems all I had to do is just walk across the border. Its almost amazing just how brazen the illegals can get, and then us legal people get pushed to the side, or I get to go thru my ‘paper’ inspection every time I run across a government agency.

    But then business saves so much money off this, its no wonder that its such a wide spread practice.

  24. DeLeMa says:

    The subject of what to do with illegal immigration interests me because I have not noticed any country on the planet who has succesfully devised a method to deal with this issue. Perhaps, we should not ask politicians to come up with the answer(s) ? No track record of success to be found at their doorstep. Maybe, we ask the illegals ? Maybe, we ask their employers ? In general, why not focus more on something that is equitable to the main components of the issue ? Are we certain there isn’t more we could learn from this approach ? I don’t know, this is just a thought to chew on. We have the begginings of the same problems of illegal immigration in our larger cities as those out west and east of us and many of us are watching to see if there are solutions we can model . Our meth use is (per the local media) skyrocketing. Crack, high grade heroin,pot, gangstas style creeps shooting each other over turf. Sound familiar ?
    Welcome to the heartland folks. My state has less people than ANY of the larger cities in the country but, we got everything they got …yepper.

  25. John Urho Kemp says:

    #8. They’re here illegally. I don’t care where they’re from, Canada, France, China or Mexico…if they’re here illegally they shouldn’t be here.

    Now, YOU wanting to rent them an apartment could be considered that you’re aiding someone that’s here illegally. Are you free to allow things you own to be used illegally? “well, it’s MY gun so I should let anyone who wants to rob a bank use it!” Yeah, that’s an extreme example, but hopefully you get my point. Just because you own something doesn’t give you the right to aid someone that’s here illegally.

    But hey, they go down and get their green card or become a citizen, rent all you want. This isn’t a case of “show your papers comrade”. I’m so sick of idiots spouting that crap. You’ve ALWAYS had to show some sort of ID for a LONG time to do things here in the US, but the morons out there are bringing that up now. I’ve rented apartments going back 25 years and for every place I’ve ever moved into I’ve had to show ID which was photo-copied and had to give other info to prove I was who I was. 25 years…why all of a sudden are you making a big deal of it now? And don’t even START on buying a house….you have to sign your life away and they crawl up your ass with a flashlight on that. Again, it’s always been like that.

    When’s the last time you’ve walked in with cash and wanted to rent an apartment with no ID? Get over yourself.

  26. Jargon says:

    Boy, I sure can’t wait until the streets of San Diego are filled with homeless illegal immigrants and bankrupt apartment complex owners…

  27. joe says:

    so thier going to be homeless (smart idea) & they’ll have no jobs to speak of.

    well, they’re not going anywhere and will live on the streets and devalue our homes and cities + with no jobs to keep them busy, they’re going to commit serious crimes

  28. joe says:

    oh, yea.

    ACLU WILL SUE THE CITY INTO BACKRUPTCY

  29. AB CD says:

    Or maybe they’ll go home.

  30. joe says:

    not likely unless you militarizre the border., which will cut the cut labor completely off, slow down production and raise food prices, destroy any chance that this weak economy will grow. Ca housing prices are already in the tank and its only going to get worse. i,e, growing food shortage, oil prices, national debt failing war on terror

    were headed for some real shity year up ahead and the least of our problems will be illegal immigration

    don’t believe me look at this article about the failing houseing market;

    http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/la-fi-foreclose19oct19,0,4110776.story?coll=la-home-headlines


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