Public Comments
“The issue has divided the city. It has put neighbor against neighbor.”
Salvador Parada, Farmers Branch resident
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
January 15, 2007
“I often wonder if Joseph and Mary and Jesus would try to find a place in Farmers Branch. They would probably be told they would have to find another place.”
Bishop Charles Grahmann, Dallas
Dallas Morning News
January 15, 2007
“The city of Farmers Branch has ventured into an area reserved exclusively for the federal government, without authority or entitlement.”
William A. Brewer III, Bickel & Brewer Storefront
Dallas Morning News
December 23, 2006
“Calmer heads must prevail in this debate. It’s critical. If we pay attention to the direction of Tim O’Hare, we’ll become our own worst enemy.”
Mayor Herbert Gears, Irving
Dallas Morning News
September 1, 2006
“Finally, call it what you will and argue with me all you like, we must face the reality of the racism, classism and xenophobia bound up in this extraordinary move.
The Farmers Branch City Council has taken action to ban an entire group of people. ‘Move to Garland, stay in Dallas, go to Denton, but understand us: you are not welcome here because of who you are and where you are from.’
I find this action shocking and abhorrent.”
Larry James, CEO for Central Dallas Ministries
Blog entry
November 16, 2006
“I was surprised by the findings myself. But there is little doubt that if we took undocumented immigrants out of the work force, $17.7 billion would disappear from the Texas economy.”
State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
December 8, 2006
“I strongly oppose using my tax money to support a course of action that will serve to divide the residents of our city. However, I believe that money would be much better spent to build bridges in our community rather than build fences.”
Charles McAdams, Brookhaven professor of humanities
Brookhaven Courier
December 4, 2006
The Dallas Morning News editorial board says that Farmers Branch delivered “the biggest Election Day disappointment” and wrote, “The city becomes one of the few to pass such an ordinance, a distinction that will prove to be a black eye rather than a badge of honor…The Farmers Branch measure is unworkable and probably unenforceable….”
Dallas Morning News Editorial Board
May 13, 2007
"Immigration has historically and constitutionally been an issue that's delegated to the federal government, and local governments should not be involved in enforcing immigration laws."
Barbara Hines, Clinical-Law Professor at the University of Texas
Dallas Morning News
May 22, 2007
“The court recognizes that illegal immigration is a major problem in this country, and one who asserts otherwise ignores reality. The court also fully understands the frustration of cities attempting to address a national problem that the federal government should handle; however, such frustration, no matter how great, cannot serve as a basis to pass an ordinance that conflicts with federal law."
Federal Judge Sam Lindsay
In His Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order
May 21, 2007
“Our district represents the nation and the world. We are more and more of a diverse society. We can’t isolate ourself from the rest of the world. That is an advantage for our children to grow up in a world that they will live in.”
Dr. Charles Cole, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD
Assistant Superintendent
KERA 90.1
December 11, 2006
“What a pitiful, miserable, unholy mess this has all become…Farmers Branch is not the appropriate forum to address national immigration policy.”
Jacquielynn Floyd, Columnist
Dallas Morning News
December 12, 2006
“We are both a nation of laws and immigrants; the former protect us, the latter enrich us.”
Governor Rick Perry
Inaugural Speech
January of 2007
“We think the ordinance is un-Christian, unconstitutional and un-Texan. It’s just crazy that a council member in a Texas town where Latinos, Anglos and African Americans have lived together would try to bring up an ordinance that would divide us.”
Domingo Garcia, Former Dallas City Councilman and
State Legislator
Brookhaven Courier
December of 2006
“…a growing, prosperous Texas economy needs a growing population. Immigrants fill an enormous gap…”
Bill Hammond, Texas Association of Business
Dallas Morning News
Dec. 8, 2006
"...as for education being down, that is not true. The reason we can say that is because every school in Farmers Branch is recognized."
Superintendent Annette Griffin, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD
Dallas Morning News
January 21, 2007
“Many people have adopted a siege mentality, but as a community of faith, we are judged by how we treat the most vulnerable among us.”
Bishop Charles Grahmann, Dallas
Dallas Morning News
January 15, 2007
“Let U.S. do its job, Hutchison tells FB”
Headline
Dallas Morning News
Article regarding Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s view of Farmers Branch immigration ordinances
August 25, 2006
“Whether it's one side's "hundreds of thousands" or the other side's "hundreds of thousands," it will be hundreds of thousands more than any other city in North Texas, because Farmers Branch stands alone in pursuing a ban on renting to illegal immigrants.
Legal costs for lawsuits are just the start. Enforcing this pointless law wouldn't be cheap, if even possible. And, of course, there is the opportunity cost. What could Farmers Branch do with the time and energy its staff and citizens are pouring into the immigration debate? “
Dallas Morning News Editorial Board
May 7, 2007