Head on a Pike

Must we all now become government informants? From the Herald-Leader:

Immigration activists and the ACLU are accusing the federal government of overreaching in the prosecution of two Lexington landlords (William Jerry Hadden and Jamey Hadden) who had rented to 60 illegal immigrants……

But civil libertarians and advocates for immigrants are alarmed by the case.

They note the Haddens were charged even though it is not illegal to rent to undocumented immigrants. Outside of landlords who accept federal Section 8 housing subsidies, landlords have no obligation to check a tenant's legal status.

If you can be prosecuted for renting to undocumented immigrants, can you be prosecuted for selling them a car? A car would make it easier to transport illegal immigrants. So it sounds like the car dealers should also be worried.

Anyone who is knowingly harboring, or housing or transporting illegal aliens is subject to criminal prosecution," Montenegro said. "They shouldn't be surprised if they are facing criminal charges."

I’ve always thought of the term harboring as meaning sheltering, and there for taking care of basic needs like putting a roof over someone’s head, or feeding them or perhaps clothing them.

So I guess that a person could be drug into court for selling food or clothing to an undocumented immigrant given this definition. Does that mean the guy that owns the local McDonalds franchise needs to see and ID before he sells a Big Mac to a Hispanic or anyone else? Selling that Big Mac might get you hauled into Federal Court for aiding in harboring an illegal immigrant.

Yes, the Haddens probably knew what they were doing was skirting the law. But their prosecution is an example of selective prosecution aimed at intimidating the public; the Feds could care less about the Haddens.

Our Federal Government realizes the value of intimidating the peasants by sticking a couple of heads on pikes around the castle wall. This is nothing new.

Do you really think that when the Internal Revenue Service sent Leona Helmsley to jail on April 15th they weren’t sending a message to everyone to pay your taxes or go to the big house? This is the same tactic, different agency, different time but the same fear, threat, and intimidation tactics.

The bottom line here is this case is about fear, threat and intimidation.

This is the targeted intimidation of the Hispanic community and of anyone that does business with that group.

This case is about demeaning of a group of people seeking a better life by modern day Know Nothings.

This is about a Congress and a President that can’t lead and is unwilling to deal in practical way with a real issue facing this country.

This case is not about the Haddens.