The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that a Texas city housing ordinance that requires citizenship or lawful immigration status as a precondition to renting housing is unconstitutional.
The housing ordinance also criminalized making false statements on an occupancy license application, occupying rental housing with a license, and knowingly permitting a person to occupy a rental unit without a valid license.
Appellate courts across the ideological spectrum have rejected state and local laws that attempt to combat illegal immigration. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the Arizona immigration law is unconstitutional, and the notoriously conservative Eleventh Circuit has already enjoined multiple provisions of the Alabama immigration law.
The Supreme Court, however, will have the final say on localized attempts at combating illegal immigration. The Court will hear oral arguments in Arizona v. U.S., the case challenging the Arizona immigration law, in April and is expected to issue an opinion on state immigration laws in June.
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