The Shield of Achilles: Finally, an Attorney General who takes a stand

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Finally, an Attorney General who takes a stand

In a rare display of integrity for the law:

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- 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."

Two groups that routinely file lawsuits on behalf of illegal immigrants, MALDEF (The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) and the National Immigration Law Center, have threatened to sue the Attorney General, but their hands may be tied. Not only is he likely on solid legal ground (since the law does forbid providing certain services to illegal aliens), but the family involved also wants the whole thing to go away - any publicity might get the immigration authorities involved.

If people want to change the law, then change it. But let's get rid of this "shadow population" and stop pretending like if we don't talk about them, then they don't exist. And stop trying to prosecute landlords for simply asking questions.

Some related developments:
While some states still give tuition breaks to illegal aliens, North Carolina recently barred them from their state colleges. Incredibly, this story even made the Guardian in the UK.

The Governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano, who supports illegal immigrants, goes against the will of the State Legislature and pulls funds for immigration enforcement.

Mexico is deploying thousands of troops in order to take on the drug cartels, after recent violence in the country.

With the price of oil sky-high, you would think that PEMEX, Mexico's state-run oil monopoly, would be rolling in money. But strangely, it's foundering, due to massive corruption and bureaucracy.