Challenge to City of Farmers Branch, Texas

Challenge to City of Farmers Branch, Texas

Local ordinance restricting immigrants’ access to housing based on immigration status


Villas at Parkside Partners v. City of Farmers Branch


More information (in addition to what’s posted below) on this case, including its history and the July 22, 2013, en banc decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (and a news releaseabout that decision), is available from the ACLU’s website.

  • Decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (3/21/12, PDF)
    “Because the sole purpose and effect of this ordinance is to target the presence of illegal aliens within the City of Farmers Branch and to cause their removal, it contravenes the federal government’s exclusive authority over the regulation of immigration and the conditions of residence in this country, and it constitutes an obstacle to federal authority over immigration and the conduct of foreign affairs. The ordinance is unconstitutional, and the judgment of the district court is affirmed.”
  • Memorandum Opinion and Order (3/24/10, PDF)
    Decision of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas: “[T]he Court finds . . . that the landlord and tenant plaintiffs have established standing to challenge the ordinance, and that the ordinance is invalid under the Supremacy Clause.”
  • Memorandum Opinion and Order Granting Permanent Injunction (5/28/08, PDF)
    Federal district court finds that a local ordinance restricting immigrants’ access to housing is preempted by federal law and violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
  • Memorandum Opinion and Order (5/28/08, PDF)
    Court lacks jurisdiction to consider defendants’ proposed counterclaim.
  • Memorandum Opinion and Order Granting Preliminary Injunction (6/19/07, PDF)