Don Gabacho wrote:
> Nebraska attorney general refuses to file lawsuit to protect immigrants'
> fair housing rights
>
> By NATE JENKINS , Associated Press
>
>
> LINCOLN, Neb. - Anne Hobbs was angry. The head of the Nebraska Equal
> Op****tunity Commission had just learned of a Hispanic couple who said
their
> landlord asked for their driver's licenses ¡X but didn't ask the same of
> non-Hispanic tenants.
>
> Hobbs said it sounded like the couple were "treated differently than
> everybody else because of national origin," and sent the case to the
> state's top prosecutor, hoping he would sue on their behalf under fair
> housing laws.
>
Of course they were treated differently, they're ILLEGAL ALIENS!
It's Nebraska. It's not as though no one would notice.
This is a classic example of collectivist thinking and trying
to assuage a guilty conscience.
>
> When Attorney General Jon Bruning received the case, he was angry, too
¡X
> for a different reason than Hobbs.
>
> "I'm not going to use taxpayer dollars to file lawsuits for illegal
> aliens," said Bruning after learning the couple was in the U.S.
illegally.
> "You're not going to get a free lawyer" from his office, he said, "if
> you're not a citizen of this country."
>
> Critics say Bruning's legal rationale is so off-base that he may end up
in
> court after all ¡X and not as a prosecutor. Immigration activists
suggest
> they may be laying the groundwork for a first-of-its kind lawsuit, with
> Bruning as the defendant.
>
> Bruning, a Republican who has made no secret of his ambition for higher
> office, argues that the federal 1996 welfare reform law prohibits him
from
> providing legal services to illegal immigrants. He points to a section
that
> says only legal residents should get state or local public benefits. The
> law defines them to include welfare, disability and health services.
>
> It doesn't mention legal services, but Bruning believes they are
included
> in wording that denies "any other similar benefit for which payments or
> assistance are provided to an individual, household or family
eligibility
> unit."
>
> Immigration advocates say the interpretation is unprecedented and
> mean-spirited, and that discrimination should be prosecuted regardless
of
> the victim's immigration status.
>
> "No public official has ever taken the position that anti-discrimination
> protections are equal to welfare benefits," said Jonathan Blazer, an
> attorney with the National Immigration Law Center.
>
Suicidal communists.
>
> The couple ultimately asked Bruning not to prosecute because they feared
it
> would draw the attention of immigration authorities. Their names have
not
> been publicly released.
>
Let me guess, it isn't Smith or Jones?
>
> But any legal showdown over the case could help define just how far
> attorneys general can push against illegal immigrants while staying on
the
> right side of the law.
>
> Raul Gonzalez, legislative director of the National Council of La Raza,
a
> national Hispanic rights group, said Bruning's interpretation would
allow
> people to "run wild over immigrants."
>
I think that is what's supposed to happen.
>
> Under Bruning's logic, he said, prosecutors would not seek justice
against
> someone who ran a red light and injured an illegal immigrant.
>
> "They're basically saying it's open season on undo***ented immigrants,"
> Gonzalez said.
>
Any American citizen can use his power of arrest. They're ILLEGAL
ALIENS.
>
> Bruning's office said that's not the case.
>
> "It's ridiculous to compare prosecuting criminal cases using taxpayer
> dollars to filing a lawsuit seeking damages from a private citizen for
the
> benefit of illegal aliens," said Bruning's chief deputy, David Cookson.
>
> Bruning agrees with the groups that the law protects illegal immigrants
> from discrimination. But he said he isn't legally obligated to prosecute
on
> their behalf, and that they should seek legal counsel elsewhere.
>
> The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said it is
> investigating the issue, but stopped short of saying it would file a
> lawsuit against Bruning. Blazer, of the National Immigration Law Center,
> said his group "hasn't contemplated" legal action, but it may talk with
> groups in Nebraska about how to handle the issue.
>
> The National Council of La Raza does not file lawsuits.
>
> Bruning's refusal to take on cases involving illegal immigrants
threatens
> the Nebraska Equal Op****tunity Commission's federal funding, commission
> officials say.
>
> But if the commission were to lose federal backing, the cases would be
> investigated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and
> prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
>
> The U.S. attorney for Nebraska, Joe Stecher, said that whether someone
is
> in the U.S. illegally would not figure into his decision on whether to
> prosecute discrimination cases.
>
> Ron Haskins, a former welfare adviser to President Bush who worked on
the
> 1996 welfare overhaul as a congressional staff director, said the
welfare
> reform law was meant to deny legal services to illegal immigrants.
>
> But it is appropriate to spend public money on issues that "advance the
> interests of society," he said.
>
> "If I was a citizen of the state," he said when told about Bruning's
> position, "I'd think, what's in the interests of the community?"
>
> "Even if a person is here illegally, we should enforce the law."
>
This is why the original 13th amendment prohibited lawyers from
holding elected office.
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