Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 11-14-2006‎(workshop)‎ — reading text

illegal immigrants have created crime and disorder in the town: " They try to recruit these children into gangs; we' re having graffiti sprayed on houses now." Ellen Barry, City Vents Anger at Illegal Immigrants, Los ANGELES TIMES, July 14, 2006, at A 1. The city passed the ordinance, the mayor claims, partly in response to an incident where four illegal Dominican immigrants were arrested in connection with the shooting of a 29- year- old man. Id. We find that this potential harm to the city is not greater than the harm faced by the plaintiffs from enforcement of the ordinances. Plaintiff has offered, in the form of affidavits, statements of the concrete harm faced by various individuals from the enforcement of the ordinances. Defendant, to the contrary, hasoffered only assertions that violent crime in Hazle product of illegal immigration and that the city faces higher costs for social services because of the presence of undocumented persons. In a newspaper interview, the Mayor admitted that he had no statistics to support his claims of 6  Case 3: 06- cv- 01586- JMM Document 35 Filed 10/ 31/ 2006 Page 7 of 13 increased crime related to illegal immigration, nor even any numbers on how 2 many illegals had entered the City. Dan Geringer, Bloomberg: U. S. Can' t Stem Immigration Tide, PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, July 6, 2006 at 7. At oral argument, defendant's counsel argued that crime in the City had increased by ten percent between 2004 and 2005, but offered no evidence to connect this increase to the presence of illegal immigrants. Counsel also offered no statistics to demonstrate the number of illegal immigrants living in Hazleton in those years. Compared to the complaints of specific harm offered by the plaintiffs, the City' s vague complaints about the presence of illegal immigrants- problems that could be ascribed to a number of factors beyond the presence of people without legal documents and which might not be alleviated by the City' s programs anyway- do not demonstrate that the City would face greater harm from issuing injunctive relief than the defendants would from not granting their motion. 2Some of the City' s assertions about rising crime rates appear to be contradicted by other sources. The Los Angeles Times, for instance, reported on July 14, 2006, that the violent crime rate in Hazleton as reported in Pennsylvania state statistics had actually decreased during the years when illegal immigration supposedly increased. See Ellen Barry, City Vents Anger at Illegal Immigrants, Los ANGELES TIMES, July 14, 2006, at A1 ( noting that the number of total arrests in Hazleton had decreased from 1,458 in 2000 to 1, 263 in 2005 and that the number of "reported rapes, robberies, homicides and assaults" had decreased as well). 7  Case 3: 06- cv- 01586- JMM Document 35 Filed 10/ 31/ 2006 Page 8 of 13 3) The Public Interest The third factor we must consider in deciding this matter is " whether granting the preliminary relief will be in the public interest." Alleoheny, 171 F. 3d at 158. We find that this factor favors granting a Temporary Restraining Order. The plaintiffs have shown they will suffer irreparable harm from enforcement of the ordinance. We find it in the public interest to protect residents' access to homes, education, jobs and businesses. No evidence offered by the City suggests that the public interest in enforcement outweighs these concerns. As stated above, defendant offers only vague generalizations about the crime allegedly caused by illegal immigrants, but has nothing concrete to back up these claims. Moreover, since the plaintiff makes claims that implicate constitutionally protected rights, the public interest would best be served by delaying enforcement of the City' s ordinances until this court has an opportunity carefully to consider their constitutional implications. See Council of Alternative Political Parties v. Hooks, 121 F. 3d 876, 883- 84 ( 3d Cir. 1997) ( holding that " In the absence of legitimate, countervailing concerns, the public interest clearly favors the protection of constitutional rights"). 4) Reasonable probability of success on the merits 8  Case 3: 06- cv- 01586- JMM Document 35 Filed 10/ 31/ 2006 Page 9 of 13 The final factor to weigh in determining whether to grant a temporary restraining order is the reasonable probability of eventual success on the merits. Crissman, 239 F. 3d at 364. In order to satisfy this element, "[ i] t is not necessary that the moving party' s right to a final decision after trial be wholly without doubt; rather the burden is on the party seeking relief to make a prima facie case showing a reasonable probability that it will prevail on the merits." Pun nett v. Carter, 621 F. 2d 578, 583 ( 3d Cir. 1980). As mentioned above, the plaintiffs challenge the legality of two ordinances. The first, Ordinance 2006- 13 requires all occupants of rental units ( as those terms are defined in the ordinance) to obtain an " occupancy permit." In order to obtain such a permit, an applicant must provide, inter alia, proper identification showing proof of legal citizenship and/ or residency." ( PI. Ex. A, Ordinance 2006- 13, Section 7( b) 1( g)). The second Ordinance is entitled the Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance, Ordinance 2006- 18. This ordinance is aimed at preventing businesses from employing or harboring illegal aliens. ( PI. Ex. B, Ordinance 2006- 18). Plaintiffs have raised several constitutional claims regarding the ordinances at issue. Plaintiffs assert that the ordinances violate the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution; the Due Process Clause 9 Case 3: 06- cv- 01586- JMM Document 35 Filed 10/ 31/ 2006 Page 10 of 13 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Plaintiffs also assert that the ordinances violate various statutes such as the Fair Housing Act, 42 U. S. C. ~ 9 3601 et seq.; Pennsylvania Home Rule Charter Law, 53 Pa. C. S. 9 9 2961 et seq. and Landlord Tenant Act, 68 PENN. STAT. 9 9250. 101 et seq. The ultimate success of plaintiffs' claims will, of course, depend on the facts presented at the full hearing on the merits. At this stage of the proceeding, where plaintiff seeks a temporary restraining order on an expedited basis without benefit of a full hearing, it is sufficient to note that plaintiff has raised serious claims and there is a reasonable probability of success on the merits on one or more of the claims. Moreover, we need not analyze the likelihood of success on the merit more closely at this point as we find that the other factors weigh heavily in favor of granting the temporary restraining order. See In re Arthur Treacher' s Franchisee Litioation, 689 F .2d 1137 ( 3d Cir. 1982) (" where factors of irreparable harm, interests of third parties and public considerations strongly favor the moving party, an injunction might be appropriate even though plaintiffs did not demonstrate as strong a likelihood of ultimate success as would generally be required." 10 Case 3: 06- cv- 01586- JMM Document 35 Filed 10/ 31/ 2006 Page 11 of 13 internal quotation marks and citation omitted.)) Conclusion For the aforementioned reasons, we find that the factors weigh in favor of granting a temporary restraining order. Accordingly, we will issue an order enjoining the enforcement of the ordinances at issue. 11  3. CL ORDINANCE NO. 2006- 38 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA ESTABLISHING PENALTIES FOR THE HARBORING OF ILLEGAL ALIENS IN THE CITY OF ESCONDIDO The City Council of the City of Escondido, California, DOES HEREBY ORDAIN as follows: SECTION 1. FINDINGS. The people of the City of Escondido find and declare: 1. Federal law requires that certain conditions be met before an alien may be authorized to be a lawful permanent resident, or be lawfully present, in the United S~ates. Those conditions are found principally at United States Code Title 8. section 1101 et. seq. 2. Illegal aliens, as defined by federal law, do not normally meet such conditions as a matter of law when present in the City. 3. The harboring of illegal aliens in dwelling units in the City, and crime committed by illegal aliens harm the health, safety and welfare of legal residents in the City. Because such individuals are not in this country lawfully, there is an increased chance that they will reside in dwelling units without typical leasing, payment and other tenancy arrangements that enable the civil and regulatory processes of this City to be effective. The regulations of the City regarding housing and property maintenance often depend upon reporting by residents and neighbors as a means of bringing unlawful conditions to the City' s attention. Because illegal aliens do not wish to call attention to their presence, such individuals are less likely to report such conditions, and notify authorities, or to participate in subsequent proceedings to remedy such conditions. This creates an increased likelihood that housing and property maintenance violations will remain unreported and, because such conditions are unreported, an increased chance that such conditions will multiply in the future. Because of the lack of tenancy arrangements which are subject to normal civil and regulatory processes ( such as written leases, records of rent receipts, and related documentation which normally accompany a tenancy arrangement) there is a greater chance that such individuals will occupy residential units in excessively large numbers, or under living conditions, that do not meet applicable building and health and safety codes. This creates unanticipated burdens on the units and the public infrastructure supporting such dwellings. 4. The state and federal government lack the resources to properly protect the citizens of the City of Escondido from the adverse effects of the harboring of illegal aliens, and the criminal activities of some illegal aliens. 5. The City finds that it is in the best interest of and will serve and benefit the health. safety and welfare of the public and law- abiding business entities and property owners to adopt policies and procedures to deter and prevent the harboring of illegal aliens, and criminal activity by illegal aliens. 6. United States Code Title 8, subsection 1324( a)( 1 )( A) prohibits the harboring of illegal aliens. The provision of housing to illegal aliens is a fundamental component of harboring. 7. The City shall not construe this Ordinance to prohibit the rendering of emergency medical care, emergency