Refusal to investigate housing complaints for illegal immigrants an 'embarrassment,' EOC says
BY MARTHA STODDARD
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU



LINCOLN - The attorney general's refusal to pursue housing discrimination complaints on behalf of illegal immigrants has become an embarrassment for Nebraska, the chairman of the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission said Wednesday.

Arnold Nesbitt said the issue goes beyond the loss of federal funds because of Attorney General Jon Bruning's position.

"We are beyond money now," he said. "We are at how does Nebraska look to the rest of the nation? This whole incident has become an embarrassment."

It's also become a bureaucratic battle of wills.

Bruning said Wednesday he will ask the state treasurer not to pay for any attempt by the commission to hire outside lawyers in its dispute with him.

The commission has authorized its executive director, Anne Hobbs, to consult with a California law firm, Brancart and Brancart, and to use some of the agency's federal funds to pay for it if needed.

The law firm could be hired to help the state agency negotiate with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development about allowing the NEOC to continue to investigate allegations of housing discrimination.

HUD cut off commission funding for 30 days because of Bruning's recent refusal to prosecute a housing discrimination case that involved a complaint from an illegal immigrant and because he had filed few other housing cases referred by the commission.

Bruning has defended his office's record on handling housing discrimination cases, but maintains that illegal immigrants are not entitled to free representation by state attorneys.

Bruning said he is, by law, the lawyer for all state government agencies, including the NEOC. Agencies may hire outside lawyers only with approval from him or the governor, and such approval has not been granted for the commission.

"The dispute is manufactured by them," he said. "I also represent the taxpayers of Nebraska. This (hiring an outside lawyer) is an extreme waste of tax dollars."

He has cited a federal law that bars public benefits from going to illegal immigrants except in emergencies and said he does not believe such cases would be prosecuted by the federal government, either.

However, Kim Kendrick, assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity with HUD, said the federal agency pursues discrimination cases on behalf of illegal immigrants.

Those cases may be handled by HUD attorneys or by attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice, depending on where they are filed.

"This is not a novel issue," Kendrick said. "This is an issue that gets dealt with all the time."

She said landlords are not required to rent to illegal immigrants. But if they don't, they must require the same type of verification from all prospective tenants, no matter what their appearance.

Other national and local attorneys said Bruning's interpretation of the law on public benefits was flawed. They said the federal law applies to such things as food stamps, child care subsidies and other welfare benefits, not to protection from illegal discrimination.

"This is ludicrous and wholly unsupported" by the law Bruning is citing, said Jonathan Blazer of Philadelphia, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center. "No public official has ever taken the position that anti-discrimination protections are equal to welfare benefits."

An advocate for immigrant rights said Bruning's position and resulting loss of federal funding for the commission threatens to undermine the state's stance against discrimination.

Rebecca Gould, executive director of the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest, said Bruning's failure to prosecute a housing discrimination case involving an illegal immigrant sends the wrong message to landlords and potential tenants.

"If we start cherry-picking cases, then we start saying our state doesn't take discrimination seriously," Gould said. "This is doing a disservice to the entire community."

Hobbs told the commission that Bruning's position on pursuing cases involving illegal immigrants already has cost the commission $16,800 in federal funds. Those losses could top $43,000 by the end of the week, she said.

HUD pays the commission $2,400 for each case it investigates. The commission gets about $250,000 annually from the federal agency, according to the state's Legislative Fiscal Office.

Hobbs said the $43,000 figure represents 18 cases that HUD is taking back from the state. Seven cases were returned Monday, 11 more were to go back to the federal agency Wednesday, and four cases are as yet unresolved.

Nebraska is one of 37 states, plus the District of Columbia and some cities, that handle housing discrimination cases on behalf of HUD.

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