Lawsuit to halt HB 1804 re-filed
BY DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Friday, October 26, 2007
Added plaintiffs
say they are facing
eviction because of
the measure.
A final-day federal court
showdown has been set for
Wednesday afternoon to determine the constitutionality
of House Bill 1804, a state law
aimed at illegal immigrants.
The law is set to go into effect the next day.
A lawsuit challenging the
measure was re-filed Thursday, this time with additional
plaintiffs who say they are facing eviction because of the
measure.
On Monday, U.S. District
Judge James H. Payne dismissed the first lawsuit filed
against the new law.
Payne found then that the
original plaintiffs -- the National Coalition of Latino Clergy, its Oklahoma affiliate, two
churches, a restaurant group
and a group of anonymous individuals -- could not challenge the law because they
could not show that it had
damaged them.
Plaintiffs' attorney Rohit
Sharma said Thursday that
the newly filed version of the
suit includes plaintiffs who
have been notified by landlords that they will be evicted
unless they can provide a valid
driver's license and a valid Social Security number.
Sharma said eight plaintiffs
have been added in the new
version of the lawsuit while
two or three others have been
dropped.
These newly added individuals, who are not specified in
the suit, have been told that
HB 1804 is the reason for the
crackdown by their landlords,
according to the lawsuit.
Late Thursday afternoon,
Payne set a Wednesday hearing on the plaintiffs' request
for a preliminary injunction
that, if issued, would prevent
the law from going into effect
as scheduled the following
day.
Adding people to the case
who are facing imminent
harm in the form of eviction
would satisfy the "standing"
requirement that Payne found
Monday was not met in the
first version of the complaint,
Sharma said.
The case has already proceeded further than its predecessor, which was never
scheduled for a hearing.
Payne's Monday decision to
throw that version out made
the request for a hearing
moot.
Payne's Monday decision
says that it did not ''close the
courthouse door to those
wishing to challenge the constitutional soundness of HB
1804."
American Dream Coalition
President, the Rev. Victor Orta
II, acknowledged that some
may have viewed Payne's
Monday ruling as a "setback"
for those opposed to the new
law.
However, Orta said he knew
all along this would be a long
legal fight.
"We're going to keep go
ing," Orta said. "We've taken
bullets and bombs and we're
going to stay with it."
Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, a chief author of HB
1804, said later Thursday said
he is "99.9 percent" confident
the measure will ultimately be
upheld by the courts.
However, he said there is a
possibility that the plaintiffs
will come up with an argument
that will result in a preliminary
injunction or temporary restraining order that would
keep HB 1804 from taking effect on Thursday.
"In the end, we will prevail
on the merits," he said.
HB 1804 would make it illegal to knowingly transport illegal immigrants, and it throws
up state barriers to hiring of illegal immigrants.
The measure also will require employers seeking state
contracts to use the federal
status verification system for
its employees.
The law also will require
identification and proof of citizenship before people can receive certain benefits.
David Harper 581-8359
david.harper@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
AMERICAN DREAM COALITION
The Rev. Victor Orta II: The group’s president
says he knew all along this would be a long legal
fight. “We’ve taken bullets and bombs and we’re
going to stay with it.”
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