Cheaper to keep her

California law bars landlords from asking tenants' immigration status

JULIANA BARBASSA Associated Press Writer
(AP) - SAN FRANCISCO-
California is again forging its own path on immigration reform by becoming the first state to prohibit landlords from asking tenants' immigration status.The law signed this week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger elicited a sigh of relief among landlord associations concerned that without it, they would be forced to take on the cost and the liability of enforcing federal laws as "de-facto immigration cops," said Nancy Ahlswede, executive director of the Apartment Association, California Southern Cities....


Effort to Curb Illegal Worker's Hiring Blocked
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 11, 2007; 2:04 PM

A federal judge barred the Bush administration yesterday from launching a planned crackdown on U.S. companies that employ illegal immigrants, warning of its potentially "staggering" impact on law-abiding workers and companies.

...the chasm that the issue has opened between the Republican Party and its traditional business allies.

The case also called attention to the gulf between Washington rhetoric about the need to curtail illegal immigration and the economic reality that many U.S. employers rely on illegal labor, as well as to the government's inability for nearly three decades to develop adequate tools for identifying undocumented workers...

In a statement, Rep. Brian P. Bilbray (R-Calif.), an opponent of Bush's approach who won election to the House last year on the issue, criticized the court. "What part of 'illegal' does Judge Breyer not understand?"... ...

Overall, 7.2 million illegal immigrants account for at least 10 percent of low-skilled U.S. workers and 5 percent of the total U.S. workforce, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of 2005 census data.

Illegal immigrants make up even greater portions of workers in specific industries, including 24 percent in farming, 17 percent in cleaning, 14 percent in construction and 12 percent in food preparation. But the government's record in developing tools to screen such workers is spotty, largely because of successful efforts by employers, labor unions and civil rights groups to water them down...

... On Aug. 31, U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney issued a temporary restraining order pending an Oct. 1 hearing before Breyer, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997 and is the brother of Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer

Correction to This Article
Earlier versions of this story gave the wrong relationship between U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer and Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer. They are brothers. This version has been corrected.