Thread: LANDLORDS ACCUSED OF HARBORING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Tenants:Mexican IDs were shown
LANDLORDS ACCUSED OF HARBORING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
By Brandon Ortiz
BORTIZ@HERALD-LEADER.COM
Four illegal immigrants who rented from indicted Lexington landlords have testified they showed only Mexican identification when they applied for apartments.

The immigrants, who are to be deported, testified in depositions that they did not present American driver's licenses or Social Security cards. One, Adnan Ramirez-Jimenez, even showed a Mexican voter registration card, indicating Mexican citizenship, and a manager wrote on his rental application, "first time in USA."

Ramirez-Jimenez testified that he did not show apartment management at Cross Keys Apartments, on Cross Keys Road, any proof he was in the country legally.

The depositions were filed in U.S. District Court in Lexington in the criminal case against William Jerry Hadden, 69, and his son Jamey, who are charged with 24 counts of harboring illegal aliens and 24 counts of encouraging illegal immigrants to remain in the country. The Haddens also own Woodridge Apartments.

The Hadden case appears to be the first time the federal government has tried to prosecute landlords for renting to illegal immigrants, defense attorneys say.

The testimony could bolster the federal government's contention that the Haddens knew 60 tenants were in the country illegally yet rented to them anyway. Whether that's enough to win a conviction for harboring remains to be seen.

The immigrants were deposed so they would not have to remain in jail until the Haddens' June 23 trial. A fifth witness was called to testify, but he refused to answer questions in the deposition.

The Kentucky ACLU, immigration activists and Jerry Hadden's attorneys have contended that the federal government is stretching the intent of the law. They say harboring laws were intended to target human traffickers or employers who are trying to hide their work forces.

They note it is not illegal to rent to illegal immigrants. The Haddens had no legal obligation to check any tenant's immigration status. And laws passed in other cities prohibiting landlords from renting to illegal immigrants have been challenged in court.

The case could have wide-ranging implications, said Josh Santana, president of the Lexington Hispanic Association. If the federal governments wins a conviction then landlords will be less willing to rent to Hispanics, even those with legal status, Santana said.

"There are sometimes problems for people of color; we don't need to give excuses to people who are predisposed to not rent to them," Santana said.

Lawyer Tucker Richardson, who represents Jerry Hadden, declined to comment. But his law partner, Russ Baldani, wrote in court pleadings that the federal government is pushing a ridiculous interpretation of the law.

Jamey Hadden, who lives in Vietnam, has not been served with the indictment, court records indicate.

Baldani said that one of the co-conspirators had been arrested for driving under the influence in 2004. He questioned whether that means the Fayette County Detention Center committed a federal crime when it housed him and provided him with three meals a day.

"When McDonald's sells an undocumented person a cheeseburger and allows him or her to eat it in the restaurant, has the business harbored or sheltered an illegal person in violation of the statute?" Baldani wrote.

The testimony provides the Haddens with a defense if U.S. District Judge Karl S. Forester allows those excerpts of the testimony into the trial. (Prosecutors objected to most of the defense's questions.)

The immigrants testified that they applied for the apartments to Juan Apodaca, an apartment manager. Apodaca has not been charged.

The indictment against the Haddens accused them of employing two illegal immigrants as apartment managers. The managers are listed as unnamed co-conspirators.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Lexington refused to say Friday whether the co-conspirators have been granted immunity for their testimony. Federal prosecutors also refused to reveal whether the co-conspirators are still in the country.

The witnesses also named their employers. Prosecutors refused to say whether they would be charged.

The immigrants testified that they did not know either Hadden. There was no effort to keep them hidden from the public, and the Haddens did not bring them into the country or find them jobs, the witnesses testified.

And while they didn't show proof that they were in the country legally, they never told Apodaca they were in the United States illegally either. Ramirez-Jimenez did say that Apodaca "would suppose that we were illegal."

In court filings Baldani has argued that few landlords, including the Haddens, are qualified to determine whether an immigrant has legal status. He also notes that the Haddens have to be careful not to discriminate against applicants because of fair-housing laws.

Jerry Hadden's attorneys had requested that the trial date be rescheduled so he could find an expert to testify on the complexities of immigration law. Forester denied the defense this week, saying experts can't offer legal opinions.

The two apartment complexes have 165 units and are worth about $5 million. The father and son have $2 million in equity in the properties.

The elder Hadden saw the complexes as his retirement plan. But the government is now trying to seize the apartments.

"Out of the blue, the United States singled him out for prosecution under a legal theory that can best be described as incredibly novel," Baldani wrote. Jerry Hadden "has been experiencing nightmares, stress and nausea, due to the specter of prison and the loss of everything he has worked for."

http://www.kentucky.com/779/story/414210.html

"When McDonald's sells an undocumented person a cheeseburger and allows him or her to eat it in the restaurant, has the business harbored or sheltered an illegal person in violation of the statute?" Baldani wrote.

No, moron and idiot lawyer. But, when somone KNOWINGLY does so, it is.

I think we have illegals living here where I live in this apartment complex. I had these people threaten me, they had also wrote on my door the words SNITCH B__CH. it took them 3 days BEFORE they painted over it. Then that same girl has threaten me, when I told the manager who happens to be mexican she said oh well. I believ, that they are illegals here. 95 % of these people here are mexican, and I see no effort on her part of puting AMERICANS in this apartment complex. When we told her we want an investigation, into what has happen she said oh well, we told her we where moving, we have the right to BREAK our lease. I have called the police dept and made a report. Called the DAS office made a criminal report. That is considered to be a HATE crime. No but, if it happened to them, they would have me thrown out and arrested for violateing HER RIGHTS.