This case is one of four lawsuits filed against the City of Farmers Branch, Texas, to challenge the City's anti-immigrant housing law, Ordinance 2892. See IM-TX-0001, IM-TX-0003 and IM-TX-0004. This case and two others filed in federal court, Vazquez v. City of Farmers Branch (IM-TX-0001) and Villas at Parkside Partners v. City of Farmers Branch (IM-TX-0003), were assigned to District Court Judge Sam A. Lindsay, and on April 18, 2007, were consolidated under lead case Villas at Parkside Partners (IM-TX-0003).

Note that during the course of the litigation for the consolidated action, Farmers Branch moved to dismiss the claims of the Barrientos plaintiffs. On June 1, 2007, the District Court (Judge Lindsay) granted Farmers Branch's motion and dismissed the Barrientos plaintiffs' complaint for lack of standing. The Court reasoned that since the Barrientos plaintiffs operated retail businesses in Farmers Branch and were not tenants or property owners, the Ordinance didn't have any direct effect on them. As such, they had no standing to challenge the Ordinance. Villas at Parkside Partners v. City of Farmers Branch, 245 F.R.D. 551 (N.D. Tex. 2007).

Litigation on the claims of the other plaintiffs continued, and on August 29, 2008, the Court issued a permanent injunction enjoining enforcement of Ordinance 2903, the law's second iteration.

See IM-TX-0003 for a more detailed accounting of developments following the consolidation.

Christopher Schad - 06/06/2012


compress summary