Law puts Valley Park landlords in a bind

This story is a prime example of the fix we are these days due to our politicians blatantly ignoring the issue of illegal/legal immigration. It however, is not a reason to stick our heads deeper in the sand as Washington would ultimately like to; but it shows how complicated and how exponentially further issues are created.

The recently passed law Valley Park, MO illegal immigration:

• English is the official language of the city.

• Official city business and communications will be conducted in English.

• A landlord who rents to illegal immigrants can be fined $500.

• A company that hires illegal immigrants will be denied a business permit and cannot get a city contract for five years.

Now comes the tough part; putting the new law into play.

Ed Sidwell, an area landlord did support and still does support the passing of this law, he did however, see that it would likely cause problems; he just didn't expect them so soon.

From the St Louis Post-Dispatch:

Last Tuesday - just three weeks after Valley Park passed a law to crack down on illegal immigration - Sidwell received a phone call from police.

The message: They found a family in one of his rentals was here illegally.

"I'm probably going to have no choice but to provide them with a notice to vacate," he said. "It's very emotional for me. ... We are dealing with people's lives."

Sidwell, who owns several rental properties in Valley Park, said police informed him about a house he was renting to a man, his wife and children. The man is here legally, he said, but his family is not.

"I didn't even think to be concerned about his wife and children," Sidwell said. "They are just good, hardworking people."

He said he reluctantly delivered a letter to his tenants Thursday, asking them to provide documents showing they are in the country legally.

This puts a face to the difficulties we undertake as the nation figures out what to do with those already in the country illegally. It does not however, mean we forget about it and just do nothing; there is no such thing as a "free lunch," at least I'm pretty sure there isn't.

This brings us to the next bump in the road: the ACLU.

According to the St Louis Post-Dispatch:

The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri has said the new law could lead to discrimination, with landlords and business owners afraid to hire or rent to anyone who appears foreign.

The ACLU, never the answer to problems, rather an additional thorn in the side to improvement, is one of those groups that likes to see the worst instead of waiting to see what happens. "What if" scenarios are fine, but not when they hamper attempts at addressing or fixing a problem. To many "what if" and you become impotent as our poster child politicians provide ample example of.

Obviously, I do not provide any answers, so you might just write me down as yet another piece of the problem; which I can agree with to a degree. That said, I and others are keeping our ears to the ground in an attempt at seeing that we don't compound the issue and create yet another boondoggle to be dealt with in a few years.

Full story here.....

Be sure to check out other posts published today by members of the Coalition Against Illegal Immigration:

Morning Coffee enters the fray with "The Increase in Terror Activity, an Iranian Diversion attempt?" as does Take Back Georgia with "REPORT from Immigration Hearings TODAY!"

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.**