Led by then-mayor Jeffrey Whitteaker, the Board of Aldermen amended the ordinance twice, and the coalition opposing the ordinances won restraining orders against both amended ordinances. The ordinances were invalidated following their repeal. A subsequent appeal by the city was dismissed as moot, in the Missouri Court of Appeals, as the subject ordinances had been repealed. Thereafter, following the city's passage and publication of an ordinance prohibiting the knowing employment of unlawful aliens, a subsequent suit was brought in state court, subsequently removed by the city to federal court. After the city abandoned its efforts to punish landlords who could not prove their tenants were lawfully present and narrowed the enforcement mechanism for the remainder of the ordinance, the district court upheld the remainder of the ordinance. The plaintiffs filed an appeal on procedural issues and asked for the district court decision to be vacated. The appeal was denied and the decision of the district court was affirmed. The city's immigration ordinances have never been enforced.