Starting yesterday afternoon

at the Dallas Morning News editorial board blog, we’ve been having a robust

discussion of what’s emerging as a serious problem in our city: the

perceived decline of neighborhoods as Hispanic immigrants move in and live

several families to a house. According to longtime residents of older

neighborhoods, the Hispanics, whom residents believe to be illegal aliens,

are piling up in houses in violation of city codes, and behaving like bad

neighbors. Residents — who are, as far as I can tell, all white — complain

of vehicles jamming the streets, loud music and outdoor socializing going on

into the wee hours, illegal construction on the houses to accommodate more

residents, and so forth. In some instances, there have been increases in

violent crime in the neighborhoods. In Irving, a large suburb of Dallas,

residents say they keep complaining to the city code enforcement

authorities, but they turn a blind eye. Others have suggested that perhaps

no one has told the immigrant workers what the codes are, and besides, if

people don’t want illegals living around them, they should quit hiring them.

This is getting to be a serious problem, and of course the spectres of race

and prejudice have entered the picture. I’m betting that Dallas isn’t the

only place in the country where this is happening … nor the only place

where authorities wish it would go away without having to face it as one of

the consequences of our screwed-up immigration policy.