As I read this story, I wondered, why haven’t they mentioned that F.A.I.R is considered a hate group. Is Plainfield the next “rat” experiment for F.A.I.R, having accomplished what it wanted to do in PWC ? Will I.R.L.I just continue trying until they see what they can get to “stick” legally and rid of us this unwanted menace from our southern border? With Mike Hethmon, playing his favorite role as the “mad scientist”, I cringe when I envision what unsuspecting county is next on F.A.I.R ‘s hit list.
PLAINFIELD, N.J. (AP) – A federal lawsuit using a novel method to challenge a landlord’s right to rent to illegal immigrants is stoking tensions that have been rising for years in this diverse city of 50,000 south of Newark.
A prominent group that opposes illegal immigration sued a Plainfield property management company this month, seeking to set a legal precedent by using anti-racketeering legislation to crack down on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants.
The suit was brought by the Immigration Reform Law Institute _ the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform _ against Connolly Properties on behalf of a former Connolly employee and two tenants who are U.S. citizens.
The tenants allege they were steered into buildings occupied by illegal immigrants who were too afraid about their legal status to complain about decrepit conditions, according to Mike Hethmon, a lawyer for the group that filed the suit.
Flor Gonzalez, head of the Plainfield-based Latin American Coalition, worries that her city may become the latest battleground in the nationwide debate over immigration. The suit comes as tensions over the city’s large immigrant population are rising to a boil, she said, with police ticketing day laborers, a recent spate of beatings and robberies against immigrants, and raids by federal immigration officials.
“This is the worst it’s been. There is a lot of unfriendliness and disrespect against immigrants, and a lot has been happening quietly,” Gonzalez said. “We need big help in this town.”
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act _ or RICO _ prosecutes organized crime and immigration-related offenses, including human trafficking and harboring and smuggling illegal immigrants into the U.S.
Hethmon said his group decided to take on the case as part of its strategy of “attrition through enforcement,” or urging illegal immigrants to leave the country by making it more difficult for them to find employment and housing in the U.S.
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=104&sid=1426375
