NORTH TEXAS CITY FACES FEDERAL LAWSUIT OVER RENTAL RULES --

Latino advocates and a civil liberties group have filed a federal lawsuit against a Dallas suburb whose officials are trying to drive out illegal immigrants. The groups say the plan by the City of Farmers Branch to ask house and apartment renters to obtain a license is unconstitutional. Rental applicants would be run through a federal database to check their immigration status.

The lawsuit filed by the groups, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project, is the latest facing Farmers Branch. The suburb faces several other lawsuits in a nearly two-year battle over measures trying to prevent illegal immigrants from living there.