Tomball Refuses To Pass Anti-Immigrant Measures

There's anti-Texas sentiment in liberal-progressive circles that is fueled in large portions due to the extreme dislike of the GW Bush misadministration and the Texas GOP being as nekulturny, homophobic, transphobic and racist as they can be.

It's something that annoys me as a proud daughter of the state who knows its progressive history and is acutely aware of the fact that current Republican control of it is only a recent phenomenon.

Thought I'd hip you Texas haters to a story that isn't getting much coverage in the national press outside of the Houston Chronicle that bolsters mine and a lot of true blue Texans faith in our fellow citizens.

It also points out that progressive attitudes just aren't ensconced in Austin, Dallas, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Houston and the Rio Grande valley.

Tomball is a 'burb in the far northern reaches of Harris County which has had an influx of Latinos throughout the years. For the last month the local Tea Klux Klan has been stirring up anti Latino and anti-immigrant animus over a ten year old day laborer center funded by the city of Tomball.

Tuesday night first term Tomball City Councilman Derek Townsend, Sr. placed two anti immigrant measures on the Tuesday city council calendar in front of a packed city council chamber filled with proponents and opponents of the measures.

Townsend told the audience the usual 'white wing' spin line that his proposals were not about racism, but about standing up for the US Constitution.

Bull feces. One proposal was to make English the official language of the city of Tomball. What was the other one? It sought to prohibit undocumented immigrants from renting, owning property or owning or operating a business there.

So Texas haters, guess which way the Tomball City Council voted? If you said in favor of both proposals, wrong. Both went down in flames.

The Tomball councilmembers besides Derek Townsend probably had in mind what happened to the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch.

In 2006 Farmers Branch voted to make English the city's official language and followed it up in 2007 with a measure to prohibit landlords from renting property to illegal immigrants. Both ordinances got struck down earlier this year by federal judges as unconstitutional.

"I'd sure hate to take our people down that route," said City Councilman Rick Brown. "It's lawsuit after lawsuit."

Councilman Preston Dodson agreed, saying such a move could have "huge constitutionality issues."

So there you have it, Texas haters. A group of Texas politicians that did the right thing and not the 'right wing' thing.

Imagine that. Now where's my Blue Bell homemade vanilla?