Prosecution of landlords worries activists, ACLU
CHARGES OF HARBORING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ‘FUEL A PHOBIA’
Brandon Ortiz

Immigration activists and the ACLU are accusing the federal government of overreaching in the prosecution of two Lexington landlords who had rented to 60 illegal immigrants.

The case, possibly the first of its kind in Kentucky, potentially places landlords in the uneasy situation of being on the front lines of the U.S. crackdown on illegal immigration. It’s a task that opens the door for discrimination claims and is something landlords are not trained to do, say civil libertarians and lawyers for landlords and immigrants.

The charges, says Michael Aldridge of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, are an attempt by the federal government to intimidate landlords and immigrants.

“It fuels a phobia, it creates this feeling of discrimination in the community, and I am sure it heightens everyone’s uneasiness across the board,â€