The small town of Tomball is tackling the federal issue of immigration. Tuesday, the Tomball City Council heard comment from the public on three controversial initiatives all aimed at discouraging illegal immigrants from living in that northwest Harris County community.
The proposed plans include an aggressive law that's been passed in three other cities across the country. Such laws prohibit undocumented workers from owning property, businesses or renting housing.
Other proposed initiatives include shutting down the city sponsored day laborer site and making English the official town language.
"The U.S. is under a massive illegal alien invasion," said a man who called himself Bama, while waiting to voice his opinion on the proposed initiatives.
While many support the initiatives, some say all three are discriminatory. A few advocates even said the immigration law and making English the town's official language are borderline unconstitutional.
"Those people are people and they are not dogs. They are people, they have families and they have kids and they hurt," said local preacher Sal Navarro.
Tomball's day laborer site sat nearly deserted Tuesday, but it's been the official site for workers to gather for a decade. It dominated the discussion with people lining up on both sides.
"We're here in support of the day laborers of Tomball. We've always thought it was a good thing that the City of Tomball provided a space, shelter and water for the day laborers. These are men just trying to make a living," said Dr. David Michael Smith, Progressive Workers Organizing Committee.
"For the most part the people working in the day laborer center are illegally here; illegal immigrants," said Richard Smith, with the Tomball Tea Party. "That takes away from the work of the people who are here in town legally."
The whole debate erupted at the start of the summer when the city had to decide if it wanted to renew its lease for the day laborer site.
As for the proposed immigration law prohibiting illegals from owning or renting property, if passed it would likely face legal scrutiny. Three other U.S. towns have passed similar legislation. All three are entrenched in multi-million dollar legal battles.
As of this publication the city council had not voted on any of the three initiatives.
The proposed plans include an aggressive law that's been passed in three other cities across the country. Such laws prohibit undocumented workers from owning property, businesses or renting housing.
Other proposed initiatives include shutting down the city sponsored day laborer site and making English the official town language.
"The U.S. is under a massive illegal alien invasion," said a man who called himself Bama, while waiting to voice his opinion on the proposed initiatives.
While many support the initiatives, some say all three are discriminatory. A few advocates even said the immigration law and making English the town's official language are borderline unconstitutional.
"Those people are people and they are not dogs. They are people, they have families and they have kids and they hurt," said local preacher Sal Navarro.
Tomball's day laborer site sat nearly deserted Tuesday, but it's been the official site for workers to gather for a decade. It dominated the discussion with people lining up on both sides.
"We're here in support of the day laborers of Tomball. We've always thought it was a good thing that the City of Tomball provided a space, shelter and water for the day laborers. These are men just trying to make a living," said Dr. David Michael Smith, Progressive Workers Organizing Committee.
"For the most part the people working in the day laborer center are illegally here; illegal immigrants," said Richard Smith, with the Tomball Tea Party. "That takes away from the work of the people who are here in town legally."
The whole debate erupted at the start of the summer when the city had to decide if it wanted to renew its lease for the day laborer site.
As for the proposed immigration law prohibiting illegals from owning or renting property, if passed it would likely face legal scrutiny. Three other U.S. towns have passed similar legislation. All three are entrenched in multi-million dollar legal battles.
As of this publication the city council had not voted on any of the three initiatives.
