Thread: NE: Attorney general takes case to Lou Dobbs Today

Published Tuesday May 13, 2008
NE: Attorney general takes case to national TV
BY LESLIE REED
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning went national with his dispute with the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission Monday, appearing on a CNN talk show hosted by Lou Dobbs, a vocal advocate for tougher measures to stop illegal immigration into the U.S.

"We're not going to stand for discrimination — I'm just not going to be the free lawyer for an illegal who wants to get money from the citizens of this country," he told Dobbs in a brief interview.

Last month, Bruning called for the NEOC to be shut down after it forwarded him a housing discrimination case involving two undocumented Latino immigrants.

He said the case had been poorly investigated by the NEOC, because the agency failed to determine the immigration status of the couple, who complained they were given an eviction notice because of their national origin.

"Our taxpayers have had enough, and they don't want to see their state attorney representing illegal immigrants," Bruning told Dobbs. "Listen, if discrimination does occur against Nebraska citizens, I'm still going to act, the federal government is going to act, there's lots of ways to get redress."

Arnold Nesbitt, an Omaha railroad executive who serves as NEOC chairman, said Bruning is using the case to make political points.

"I saw nothing out of that (interview) except he got his three minutes on national TV," Nesbitt said.

Nesbitt said the commission's dispute with Bruning is over his reluctance to file discrimination lawsuits, not illegal immigration. He said the agency's federal funds have been jeopardized because Bruning has not pursued litigation in 17 housing discrimination cases referred to his office since January 2003. The case in dispute is the only one, to NEOC officials' knowledge, that involves undocumented immigrants.

"He has really turned this into his own personal political platform," Nesbitt said. "This was never about illegal immigration. To call to shut down an entire agency over something that is not our most common case, it's ludicrous."

The commission is a seven-member citizen board that screens housing and job discrimination complaints to determine if they have merit. When the commission finds reasonable cause to believe discrimination occurred, the cases can be resolved through an NEOC settlement and hearing process or filed in civil court.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development cut off the agency's funding for 30 days beginning in mid-April. It pays the NEOC $2,400 per case to investigate alleged violations of federal housing discrimination law, which generates about $250,000 per year for the state agency.

The agency has asked to hire its own attorney because Bruning has not taken up its cases. However, Bruning said he will not permit that because he believes the agency doesn't properly weed out unsubstantiated cases.

• Contact the writer: 402-473-9581, leslie.reed@owh.com

Well, well. Bruning has been infected with common sense.

DOBBS: Well, another local official taking action to deal with the illegal immigration crisis and state officials doing so, as well. State officials driven to action by the federal government's inability to enforce our border. Nebraska's Attorney General Jon Bruning said he won't file lawsuits to seek monetary damages on behalf of illegal aliens. That's the acquisition by his critics. Mr. Attorney general, good to have you with us. Welcome.

JON BRUNING (R), NEBRASKA ATTY. GENERAL: Thanks, Lou, good to be here.

DOBBS: You're being accused of not representing illegal aliens who have been victimized by discrimination, a serious charge. Why are you not acting?

BRUNING: In Nebraska, like every other state, our taxpayers have had enough and they don't want to see their state attorney representing illegal immigrants. Not enough money to go around the way it is. I made a decision my office isn't going to be the free lawyer for illegal immigrants.

DOBBS: What has been the reaction of the federal government?

BRUNING: The federal government has stopped paying the NEOC, the Equal Opportunity Commission, for some of the cases.

But listen, if discrimination does occur against Nebraska's citizens, I'm still going to act. The federal government can act. There's lots of ways to get redress. We're not going to stand for discrimination. I'm just not going to be the free lawyer for an illegal who wants to get money from a citizen of this country.

DOBBS: And is it your judgment based on empirical evidence that that's what's going on here?

BRUNING: Well, that's what the equal opportunity commission's asking me to do. The case they sent over, I mean there, was very sketchy evidence of discrimination to start with. This guy simply was asked for his driver's license, and he didn't like that. As you talked about earlier in the show, you have to have a driver's license to vote in some states. Well, he didn't want to provide it. So they decided it was discrimination, they sent it over to me, and I said we're not going to file it, there isn't discrimination, but even if there was you're not even a citizen of this state. And non-emergency benefits I don't think are a proper thing to extend to people who aren't citizens of the country.

DOBBS: To deal -- you know, that's an interesting position. Because they're complaining that you won't enforce the law. Yet you -- you put yourself in the position of, say, George W. Bush, who's not been enforcing our laws for some time. What is the recourse? I mean, I guess you're -- I don't know if you're flattered or insulted by the comparison, but this administration has refused to secure our border. It has refused to enforce our immigration laws. You're refusing to take action and being criticized for it by some for not enforcing the law.

BRUNING: Well, and there's other federal laws that say you can be prosecuted if you harbor an illegal. So if a landlord knowingly rents, you can be prosecuted for harboring. And there's federal laws that say we can't extend non-emergency benefits.

So the debate is are legal services from my office a non- emergency benefit? I would argue that they are, and that they can't be provided under federal law.

DOBBS: So what has been the reaction of, say, the governor, the state legislature, the citizens of Nebraska?

BRUNING: Well, the citizens of Nebraska have a lot of common sense, and certainly they have been very, very supportive. There have been those who have argued that I ought to prosecute these cases, but the governor's been very supportive. We offered a bill to the legislature this year to force state agencies to run a check on background before non-emergency benefits were provided. Legislature managed to kill that thing, but I think we'll see it again next year. I mean, it's important, I think, that we are judicious with our precious tax dollars, and that we don't spend them willy-nilly on anybody that's not a citizen.

DOBBS: And the attorney general of Michigan, by the way, demonstrating that the burden didn't rest with the state, but rather with the person who had violated U.S. law, namely the illegal immigrant. So it all gets very interesting indeed and very difficult for all of us, including those who are here illegally, of course.

We thank you very much, Mr. Bruning. Thank you very much. The attorney general, state of Nebraska. Thank you.

BRUNING: You're welcome.

Related article: Please go to the link and make a comment. The libs and the OBL have taken over!

[quote]Bruning takes housing discrimination fight to CNN
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008 - 12:38:38 am CDT

OMAHA — Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning on Monday defended his refusal to prosecute housing discrimination cases on CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight,â€