The Georgetown city council backed off a controversial proposal to crack down on city contractors who hire illegal immigrants after their Tuesday evening meeting.

The move appears to avoid what could have been a showdown over the US constitution.

The proposal would have been among the first of its kind in Texas, openly stating Georgetown wouldn't do business with anyone who hires illegal immigrants.

But after weighing the backlash and potential consequences the council decided against it.

Even the winter temperatures couldn't cool the protestors' message before Tuesday’s council meeting.

"We see it as racial profiling.  We're all brown-skinned people whether we have documents or not... so we're going to be the ones scrutinized," said Antonio Diaz.

Once inside the council considered a measure requiring contractors hired by the city, to prove their workers are legal.   

One person spoke in favor of the measure.

"They're in absolute non-compliance with federal, state and local law," said Jim Dillon.

Others responded against it, calling it mean spirited and not the city's concern.

"It's not necessary to overburden employers, encourage discrimination against hard-working members of our community and bring further negative publicity to our town," said Sherry Dana, a Georgetown resident.

After taking in about 45 minutes of public comment the council ultimately decided to back off any specific language directed toward illegal immigrants.

Instead, they decided to reiterate that the city won't do business with any contractors who don't follow all federal, state and local laws.

"We do want people who do business with the city to obey those laws, but it does not single out any particular area," said Georgetown City Council Member Ben Oliver.

Afterwards, opponents of the initial proposal claimed victory.

"We got what we hoped for, that the city does not pass any sort of language that would encourage employers to discriminate against Hispanics inadvertently."

Proposals like this one, in which cities target illegal immigrants, haven't fared well in the courts.

Federal judges have thrown out similar ordinances saying illegal immigration is a job of the federal government.