Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

The Farmers Branch City Council's measures targeting illegal immigrants will accomplish little toward addressing very real problems caused by failed enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

But Monday's votes can't be ignored, lest they provide momentum for even more wrong-headed proposals in other cities and the Texas Legislature.

Whatever their motivation, local and state officials' actions in tackling immigration reflect frustration with the fact that Congress has not passed meaningful measures. Congress accomplished little besides pre-election pandering by approving 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border but not addressing the many other factors that make up a rational and workable immigration policy.

Farmers Branch officials said in a September resolution that they and their communities' residents were "downright mad" at President Bush about immigration. So on Monday, council members declared English the town's official language and voted to charge private landlords with misdemeanors and fine them up to $500 a day for renting to people who don't prove their citizenship or legal residency with U.S. passports or official documents verifying their status.

The problem with the mean-spirited English-only ordinance is that it contains 10 exemptions, including for emergencies; to comply with contrary federal and state laws; to protect the rights of criminal defendants and crime victims; to collect payments due the city; and to promote trade, commerce and tourism. A lot this rule is going to do -- besides cause alienation and miscommunication.

The ban on renting to illegal immigrants, effective in January, mimics federal law that limits government housing subsidies to legal residents. The problem there is that Farmers Branch's ill-conceived ordinance applies to all landlords, even those without tenants receiving government assistance. Why should those landlords become immigration police on behalf of the city, especially when housing regulation and immigration enforcement largely have been federal responsibilities?

It seems that Farmers Branch officials plunged this northwest Dallas County community of 27,000 into bitterly divisive debate without any significant return.

Some Republican legislators look poised to follow suit unless saner heads prevail.

State Rep. Leo Berman of Tyler wants to deny a public education or other public services to any child born in Texas after Sept. 1 to illegal immigrant parents. Reps. Bill Zedler of Arlington and Ken Paxton of McKinney want to revoke a Texas law that makes children of illegal immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition if they've lived here at least three years and graduated from high school.

Reasonable arguments can be made over what rights and benefits should extend to adults who live in the United States without proper documents. But good schooling is so fundamental that it makes no sense -- and costs us all in the long run -- to penalize children who are citizens by virtue of being born here, or young people (whose illegal status stems from their parents' decisions) who are trying to educate themselves in order to contribute to society.

More irrational and ineffective legislation can be expected unless Congress gets down to serious work on a realistic and humane approach to immigration that effectively deters employers from hiring illegal workers; gives hardworking, longtime residents a path to legalization; and better balances taxpayer and industry interests with worker aspirations and our nation's tradition as a beacon of hope and opportunity.