Neb. AG Refuses to Sue for Immigrants' Fair Housing Rights

[Chris_]

Neb. AG Refuses to Sue for Immigrants' Fair Housing Rights

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Anne Hobbs was angry. The head of the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission had just learned of a Hispanic couple who said their landlord asked for their driver's licenses _ 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.

When Attorney General Jon Bruning received the case, he was angry, too _ 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 _ 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 argues that the federal 1996 welfare reform law prohibits him from providing legal services to illegal immigrants, pointing 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.

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.

MORE

"mean spirited" my a$$.  Kudos to the AG.   

[Airwolf]

The DUmmies will never learn. If you are not an American citizen then you don't have the same rights as one. The only rights you have are the ones given to you by what ever country you just invaded says you have. I find it interesting thaat Mexico can get away with their immigration laws like shooting people on sight but we can't even restrain someone.